Anarenn: Rise of the ancient blood

Nightbreeze

First Post
[sblock=ooc]Sorry for the delay, real life hit me like train[/sblock]

As the dragon adjust his sight to the dark cavern, he things that a little bit of light (and a little bit of spring cleaning) wouldn't hurt. There was a bigg supply of candles, but during the seemingly endless winter almost all of them were consumed.

You enter the cave, follow it for 30 feet and then enter one of the narrow tunnels at it's end. After another 30 feet of twisted crawling (sometimes you wonder how could the creature living in the rooms before you enter and exit them...it was certainly too big to crawl in this rat tunnel) you get in the first room. There is almost nothing here, except for tons of dust and an old, almost falling in pieces, wooden box (empty). There's a door between this room and the second one, the only one in the entire complex. It opens to the outside, and it's condition is rapidly deteriorating, too, due to the humid air. You crawl in a hole of it and go down, ignoring the ladder. Thus, you came to the second room, where whoever lived here used to eat and cook: there's a table and some boxes around, and a lot of spoons, knives and plates.

Another ladder leading down, and you are in the third room, the library and the sleeping room: there are two bookstores, a table and a bed. One of the bookstores contains a great number of books of no value: a collection of stories, fairy tales, popular legends and low-quality poems, written in hethon. On the second bookstore instead there's a dozend expensive and precious looking books, and a dozend of old and seemingly useless books. The former are treaties on some aspects of the nature, magic and other powers, like dragons and elementals: no one of them is organized, and they are mostly a collection of quotes from another texts, thus making their study extremely difficult. That's more a collection of notes, rather than organic knowledge.

The other books instead are what baffles you: they are obviously written in a language strongly tied to your race, because they seem strangely familiar, and the alphabet is the same of the phrases written on the small altar of the 4th room.....

And speaking of the forth room, it is the most strange of all. It seems that it once was a laboratory, because there are some tables and shelves full of flasks and alchemical devices (most of them cracked and thus useless, but some of them is fine). There's also a little collection of scales, talons and other parts of strange animals. And there's a little altar made by a strange rock (you have never found a similar rock in the vicinity, and Oak doesn't recognize it by your description...but then, rocks are not his speciality). On the top of it, there's a circle of copper with inscribed draconic runes and there was yor egg, when you hatched. Of course, nothing is left of it, because driven by an innate compulsion, you devoured it in the first moments of your existance, gaining the necessary power to go out and start hunting on your own.

You also have a small treasure of shining rocks and shards: you can decide where you put that, and also where do you use to sleep, as well as any modification of the layout of the cave.
 

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Ambrus

Explorer
Once through the labyrinth of tunnels outside the foyer, the diminutive dragon squeezes through the closed portal and glides down through the den and into the library bellow; all in complete darkness. Alighting atop the reading table the wymling tastes the air for a particular tome of poetry it'd been reading the previous week. Seeing as how it had made good use of the vocabulary it'd learned by studying the text in speaking with the wizard earlier, the scholarly reptile thought it a good idea to continue with its academic pursuits. Finding the book amidst a pile, the diminutive wymling uses its long sinewy tail to wrest free the tome and pull open its covers. The creature had discovered over the winter that its delicate but lethal stinger was an ideal tool for hooking and flipping pages. Finding what it was looking for, the studious dragon curls up and snakes its long sinuous neck out above the page to read.

Later, as it finds its multiple eyelids closing from weariness, the small dragon stands and, with a few powerful downbeats, returns to its nest in the room above. Settling in amidst the pillows, blankets and glittering crystals it'd arranged on the bed, the exhausted wymling curls up to sleep and dream.
 

Ambrus

Explorer
Nightbreeze said:
You used to dream, almost always uninteresting things. However, this morning you awaken with a sudden clarity. There was something clicking in your mind last evening, but you couldn't get hold on it. And with the morning, a clear thought comes to you: there was a word that the wizard said...Arket'sa...that is familiar. You are pretty sure that you heard it somewhere, and most of the strange words and names that you know....come from the books.
Waking up amid its treasures, the diminutive dragon indulges in early-morning reverie as it tries to recall the cryptic thoughts of the wizard it'd encountered the day before. But Arket'sa was built by humans, and humans shall reclaim it's legacy. Arket'sa was likely the name of the ruins the human was hoping to find, but the name was also strangely familiar...

Shrouded in the perpetual darkness of its lair, the wyrmling slowly uncurls its serpentine body and pads softly to the edge of the bed. A nimble leap carries the lithe dragon through a high arc across the room to the vertical shaft in the floor. Gravity swiftly pulls the wyrmling down the narrow shaft into the library below. Unfurling its wings with an audible snap, the dragon instantly halts its decent and deftly banks into a tight turn over to its reading table. Alighting, the wyrmling snakes its sinuous neck over to scan the nearby bookshelves.

Even in complete darkness, the diminutive predator's eyes have no difficulty in discerning the books' titles embossed along their spines. In which tome might it have read that odd name? The scholarly dragon dismisses its poetry collection with nary a glance; nothing rhymes with "Arket'sa". The most likely possibilities seemed to be the dragon's folklore collection or perhaps one of its treatises on magic...

The wyrmling decides on a handful of tomes which seem like good candidates and goes about the arduous task of prying them off their shelves and transporting the cumbersome volume over to the reading table for careful perusal. Flipping open the first tome's cover with its long flexible tail, the scholarly dragon begins its research.
 

Nightbreeze

First Post
You spend best of the morning searching for that reference and you start to realize that it is a daunting task. The tomes are big, and mostly disorganized. You start sifting through them, and you realize that although you remember most of the stories and the general meaning of most chapters, you can't afford to not read them carefully: there are too many words popping in and out as generic references, not explained in the tome, and it is impossible to remember them all.

As the days go on you can feel your frustration and you hunger growing. Judging by your stomach, at least 5 hours have passed since you awoke. As shift uncomfortably on the reading table, you realize that you are really hungry...and as you set to go out of your lair, searching for food, your eyes linger on the collection of poetry.

[sblock=ooc]There's no need to roll for seaching for food, by taking 10 you'd have no problems to do that. I'd also like to advise you that reading carefully all of your books (poetry included), would require you several days, maybe more than a week.[/sblock]
 

Ambrus

Explorer
[sblock=OOC]I take it you're suggesting that my dragon would have more luck in studying his poetry books. Keep in mind that I'd spent several hours the previous night reading some of them, for whatever that's worth.

Also, I hadn't intended to spend the entire day reading; maybe two to three hours in the early morning at most. The dragon intends to reach the ruins today so it wants to get a fairly early start with the trip. I'll assume it's only mid-morning when it heads outside.
[/sblock]Hooking the cover with it's barbed stinger, the weary dragon closes the book that it had been studying without much success for the last little while. Springing upwards, the wyrmling beats the air furiously while wiping its tail back and forth to balance while hovering. With steady effort, the dragon rises back up the shaft and, after arcing across its living area, continues up the next shaft to the closed door. Snaking its way beneath the portal's bottom edge, the wyrmling emerges into the antechamber. The hungry dragon cautiously tastes the air with its forked tongue before heading into the labyrinth of corridors towards the outside.

Emerging on the rock cleft high above the forest floor, the diminutive dragon carefully gages the morning's wind speed and temperature by stretching its wings wide. Satisfied with its analysis, the hungry predator takes to the air with a powerful leap.

OOC: The dragon's intention is to survey the surrounding area while it hunts for prey. After its hunt, it'll make a high-altitude pass over the nearby village in hopes of spotting the wizards or their servants. If it doesn't find anything noteworthy in either the forest or the village, it'll then turn around and head for the ruins while following Oak's directions.
 

Nightbreeze

First Post
[sblock=OOC]In the next days, I'll be rolling a dice for each two hours that you spend reading. (yeah, rolled them for the last night too).[/sblock]

The hunt is fast and easy. You have other matters in your head, and no time to linger in that particular pleasure. The problem is, you are also extremely hungry because of the spring...so you set yourself on a bigger pray: a wild, small rabbit. A hit with your tail is enough to bring him down.

After eating as much as you can, you soar high in the skies and soon you are sure that no one could distinguish you from a bird, if you take care to hide your tail. However, flying without the use of the tail is very clumsy and difficult effort, so you decide to go even higher, to the point that even you find it hard to distinguish very well what is happening on ground level.

The spring winds carry you with ease, and the surround lands reveal themselves under your sight: it is truly a marvelous experience. The plains under you transform into gentle, rolling hills on the east, and to sharp, high and forested hill to the west. There's a line of plains dividing them, and it goes from the south to the north, at the edge of the forest, ranging from 100m to a kilometer.

You can see the city from here (at least, its smoke, as it's hidden because of the hills), but right now you are interested in the village right here. It seems small, and dirty as always, and seen from the air, it is not very different from what it was before. People are going on with their work, and from experience you can tell that after an hour they will head back to eat.

You scry for the wizard and his bodyguards, but you can't seem to spot them anywhere. Nothing suggests that there are foreigners here. However you spot something else: on an outcrop of rock, approximately 600m from your lair in the forest, there's a single person sitting around. You can't distinguish much from this distance, but judging from the clothes you deduce that it's probably the girl, the one who was with Cordel yesterday.

At the same time, you notice another unusual thing: the mounted soldiers are coming on the road, two dozens of the. You don't know many about their duty, but it seems strange to you that there are so many of them coming here.
 

Ambrus

Explorer
The soaring dragon glides effortlessly through the springtime sky, seeking out warm thermals to gain altitude when necessary to remain aloft. It's predator's keen senses remain trained on the landscape below. Being keenly able to spot a lone mouse moving through the underbrush from above the forest's canopy, the diminutive hunter has little difficulty keeping track of the humans on the plain below.

Although anxious to get a closer look at the female wizard so near the Drachenfell, the dragon nonetheless remains above the village for awhile longer to observe the arrival of the two dozen soldiers. Taking advantage of the commotion caused by their arrival, the wily wyrmling circles and then banks over to begin a sideways slide into a steep dive. Using its increased speed for a swift approach, the descending dragon is counting on the unexpected distraction to land in the village unobserved.

The dragon's wing and frill membranes nearly hum in response to being buffeted by the thicker air near the ground's quickly approaching surface. In the blink of a human's eye, the wyrmling pulls out of its dive on the opposite side of the village and swiftly arcs up to land atop the highest roof-peak. Setting down, the small reptile's scaled hide quickly shifts to a dull yellow-brown to match the roof's thatch as it scurries into the shadow of a nearby chimney. The curious dragon had spent many hours in this concealed spot the previous year while it observed the daily lives of the villagers. Carefully, the wyrmling snakes its head towards the edge of the roof to discern whether its been spotted while it waits for the arrival of the soldiers.
 

Nightbreeze

First Post
Greetings, Vitorg...what are you doing here in such numbers? -The puzzled chief of the local militia, the village's blacksmith, a tall and strong - looking man with messy red beard and short red hair asks to the leading horseman. The chief of the soldiers dismounts and begins to walk toward the villager. He bears the sign of some noble house on his armor and a painted golden circlet on his left arm.
I have to speak with you, Rertorn, and it is about some serious matters...come with me.
Then he leads him to the local tavern, followed by three soldiers.

You suppress your delusion about the fact that they are not intending to speak in public, and you have few chances to follow them into the tavern unseen. The peasants are hesitantly asking the soldiers that they know about what is happening, and one of them grudgingly explains that there is no danger for the village, just some organizational matters...high places stuff and such.
 

Ambrus

Explorer
The eavesdropping dragon feels a familiar sense of frustration. It had spent hour upon hour in this and a few other key hiding spots around the village throughout the previous summer and fall seasons. For all its efforts however, the curious dragon knew all to well the futility of trying to follow every aspect of the villagers' lives. It only ever witnessed incidental glimpses of moments in their daily activities, only during those times when it happened to be in the village and only when the humans happened to be openly discussing a topic of interest to the intelligent reptile.

All too often the villagers wandered into earshot in mid-conversation or often left its vicinity before completing their discussions. Any questions the puzzled wyrmling might have about the what they were discussing went unanswered. It was a time-consuming way to learn about its neighbors, but the dragon had consequently learnt patience early on to help deal with the oftentimes frustrating method. Today however, the dragon was pressed for time and couldn't afford to wait for the blacksmith and soldier to emerge once more as it normally might. One or more wizards with uncertain motives at large in its forest gave the dragon an unusual sense of urgency.

Snaking its head around, the dragon begins to track the movements and attention of the nearby villagers, waiting for an opportune moment to leave its hiding spot. When it feels confident that no one is nearby or looking in its direction the camouflaged wyrmling leaps from the roof and glides down to a tuft of grass lining an herb garden. Shifting its coloration to a striated green-yellow pattern, the dragon begins slinking away from the village. Once it's put enough distance between itself and the village's outermost buildings, the wyrmling coils its tail and springs into the air with a powerful downbeat of its wings.

Soon the dragon is winding its way through the forest towards the hill where it had spotted the lone wizardess.

OOC: The dragon intends to get close enough to see and hear the wizardess without risking being spotted.
 

Nightbreeze

First Post
As you are closing near the hill, you see the young woman still sitting on it. You begin to approach her from behind, and soon you understand that it will be an extremely easy task: she is just staring west and doesn't seem interested in what's going around her.

You find a nice spot, on a treetop on her left side. From here you can finally get a closer look on her, without fear of getting spotted.

She wears a dress, very similar in shape to her outfit yesterday, green with some very nice red decorations around her arms. You think that she would probably be considered a great beauty by the male humans, and her expensive and nice dresses certainly help.

Right now, her impatience and anger from yesterday seems to be gone: she sits, embracing herself with her arms, and staring on the horizon. The wind blows her hair into a mess, and you notice that her cheeks are reddish, and her green eyes misty. She has probably cried, not too long ago, and she seems really sad.
 

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