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Savannah Knights (mild update 06-10-05)
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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 13981" data-attributes="member: 63"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Chapter Six: Sir, a call for you</strong></span></p><p></p><p>Three nights ago, Flarinaman, a 450-year-old Dragon living in Atlanta, was murdered while vacationing in Savannah, caught by a fireball before he could finish polymorphing back to normal from his human form. The death of a wealthy businessman . . . err, businessDragon, has greatly upset the Bureau, especially because Flarinaman made yearly financial ‘contributions’ to the Bureau to make sure they would not reveal his identity. Now the Bureau has to dispose of a gargantuan reptilian body, provide a fake corpse for a fake funeral, and explain why a historical Savannah house seems to have exploded, the nasty side of effect of Flarinaman’s body reverting to its natural form at death. A 450-year-old Dragon just doesn’t very easily into an old house.</p><p></p><p>As if this wasn’t enough to worry the Bureau, the night before Flarinaman’s death, another Dragon was murdered in Hong Kong. Millionaire businesswoman Li Tsi Tong was assassinated in the 70th-floor penthouse of her skyscraper (thankfully, her penthouse is large enough to contain a 30-foot long gold Dragon), in what was apparently a vicious battle. They’ve dispatched a team to handle the clean-up and redistribution of her assets, but in the meanwhile, knights around the world are having to work their li’l butts off to protect all the Dragons around the world, especially the high-profile ones.</p><p></p><p>The Bureau assigns the knights in Savannah (Iscalio, Cai, Jenny, Finagle, and Madeline, but not Tagin, who is on special assignment somewhere in China) to visit, question, and in general investigate Max Dorman, a Savannah local. He’s from the prestigious Dorman line, an Old Money family that has existed on the Georgia coast for almost two centuries. In truth, however, all the various Mr. Dorman’s through that time have been the same Dragon. Assets have just been consistently willed to offspring, nephews, or younger brothers whenever a particular alias reached the credible limits of human lifespan. Dornankanir, a bronze-scaled Dragon from Norse stock, took up the mantle of the Dorman family when it would have died out in 1812. Not a millionaire, but quite rich by anyone’s measure, Dornankanir is not only a potential victim, but also a suspect.</p><p></p><p>The knights are sent to go because they were the ones who witnessed Jericho Wright’s behavior as he fled the scene of Flarinaman’s death. As a precaution, to keep the old Dragon from acting rashly and attacking the newbie knights, the Chief sends along Michael Dunne, the paladin from the graveyard, and Galindrel White, an Elvish sorcerer who’s handy with both attack and escape magic (played by the same guy who played Keira in the last game).</p><p></p><p>The knights travel to the northern outskirts of Savannah, to the Dorman family’s old plantation house. They travel in a van, a typical undercover cop-style van with radios and receivers and tape recorders galore, but which looks like a plumbing van from the outside. Madeline drives, quite proud that she has memorized the street map of Savannah.</p><p></p><p>Madeline parks the van on the outskirts of the estate, and she, Cai, and Galindrel stay in the van, while Michael, Jenny, Iscalio, and Finagle walk through the well-tended gardens to the mansion’s front door. Finagle and Jenny wear wires, so the knights in the van can hear what’s going on, and Finagle also jury-rigged a mini-cam to fit in his messy and unkempt hair.</p><p></p><p>Reaching the front door, Michael rings the doorbell, but no one answers for several moments. Frustrated, complaining that Dornankanir was always a pain for the Bureau, he tries the knob and finds it unlocked, so they proceed inside.</p><p></p><p>Jenny is a bit nervous about this, and makes a point to say loudly enough for the recorders to pick it up that she thinks it’s a bad idea to barge into the man’s house. Then, she reconsiders, saying it is a <em>very</em> bad idea to barge into a Dragon’s house. Michael shrugs and says that he’s fought Dragons before.</p><p></p><p>Uneager, Jenny wants to remain outside, but her ghost, Pataman, urges her to follow Michael. He senses something odd about the man, but can say nothing more useful than that, “his voice is uneasy.” Reluctantly, Jenny goes inside, warily watching Michael as the older and more experienced knight leads the way.</p><p></p><p>The main foyer is well-furnished and perfectly maintained, but still no one greets them. Shrugging, Michael tells Finagle and Jenny to check up a flight of stairs while he and Iscalio work on the bottom floor. Before the theatre student and the computer geek can even reach the second floor, though, Iscalio shouts for them to come back down, the sound of envy in his voice.</p><p></p><p>The knights have found, down a wide hallway, a set of double doors that lead into a huge, high-ceilinged chamber, filled with a full layer of coins an inch deep, with large mounds scattered about the room. Michael shrugs as Iscalio furtively glances around at the glittering riches. Through the radio receivers in their ears, they hear Cai warn his brother not to piss off the Dragon. Iscalio frowns and mutters that he wasn’t planning to steal anything.</p><p></p><p>On edge from the silence of the house, Jenny tries to look around and admire the treasure to keep her mind off her fear. The knights exchange glances, and they’re just about to leave to check out the rest of the mansion when someone clears his throat in the doorway. Everyone turns to see a well-dressed man in his forties, with light brown hair and stern features, glaring at them disapprovingly, absently holding a martini in his right hand. </p><p></p><p>“Please tell me you’re robbers and not the Bureau again.”</p><p></p><p>They wait for Michael to speak, since he’s the leader of this mission, but the blond paladin just stares at the polymorphed Dragon. Nervously coughing, Jenny takes charge and informs Max Dorman, the current human form of Dornankanir, about the murders, and tells him they need to ask him a few questions. In response, the Dragon complains that the knights broke into his home, and he demands they leave. They can make an appointment with his secretary if they want to speak with him; that’s how most humans do business. </p><p></p><p>Taking offense to the insulting tone that the Dragon used when saying “human,” Iscalio begins firing off a string of questions, trying to get the Dragon off balance. Aside from saying that, yes, he often makes business trips, but no, he hasn’t been to China, Max Dorman refuses to answer to Iscalio’s interrogation. </p><p></p><p>“Now, get out of my house,” Max Dorman says. “I have a charity I plan to attend in Atlanta this weekend, and I have to finalize my plans. It’s for an important cause. Saving the environment from <em>human encroachment</em>.”</p><p></p><p>“Human encroachment my ass!” Iscalio shouts. “Lay the <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> off the human insults, you-”</p><p></p><p>Jenny grabs Iscalio’s shoulder and tugs him back away from the businessman. “Iscalio,” she reminds him, “you’re the one calling yourself a Druid, remember? You’re supposed to be in favor of protecting the environment.”</p><p></p><p>Iscalio grumbles, and Max Dorman clears his throat again. “I’ve had enough of this. If you don’t want a lawsuit, you’ll get the hell off my proper-”</p><p></p><p>Michael cuts him off, speaking a guttural language, shouting something angrily at the Dragon. Immediately, Jenny and Finagle’s ghosts warn that they see something odd that seems to be covering Michael’s body, and Iscalio’s fox ghost growls, bristling.</p><p></p><p>In the van, the knights listening on the radio shrug, not recognizing a word Michael just said. Finagle makes sure to record the event with his camera, as Dornankanir shouts something back at Michael, again in what they assume must be Draconic. Michael takes a step forward in reply, his hand going to the hilt of his light sword, and the blond man growls out another phrase in Draconic. </p><p></p><p>Before any of the other knights can try to stop the situation, Max Dorman’s body contorts, and a bronze-scaled beast tears out of the guise of a human businessman. Jenny has the presence of mind to shout, “He’s turning into a Dragon!” so the knights in the van will know what’s up, while Finagle had decided to run instead of watching the Dragon revert to his normal, fierce self. Whether they are looking at Dornankanir or not, though, they feel a powerful thrum of energy pass through them. For a moment, their contact with their ghost wavers, and then stabilizes, but everyone except Michael is too unsettled to move for a moment. Michael stands almost completely still, and doesn’t even seem to see the twenty-foot long Dragon towering over him.</p><p></p><p>Growling at them in deep, hissing voice speaking English, Dornankanir tells them they made a mistake insulting him in his own home. His massive bulk blocks the exit out of the hoard room, and he takes a deliberate step toward them. Iscalio ignites the blade of his scythe and runs forward to attack, but Dornankanir simply lines his gaze up with the albino Druid, and Iscalio’s legs go weak. He falls backward, dropping his scythe and staring up in momentary panic at the Dragon.</p><p></p><p>In the van, Madeline leaps into the driver’s seat at Cai’s urging and swerves the vehicle around, gunning the pedal to drive the car up the main paved walkway to Max Dorman’s house. Galindrel conveniently cowers in the back of the van, saying quietly that they really shouldn’t just go-</p><p></p><p>And with a crash the van drives up the steps and smashes through the large front door of the mansion. Moving too fast to stop, Madeline puts the van into a 180 degree spin, and, now moving in reverse, it skids down the hallway to the doorway of the horde room. Cai throws open the back door of the van and yells for everyone to get in.</p><p></p><p>Jenny tries to shake Michael out of his fear, but then she sees his expression. Unlike Iscalio, Michael isn’t afraid. He looks more dazed, as if almost asleep. She shouts for Finagle to help Iscalio and Michael, then tries to draw off Dornankanir’s attention. </p><p></p><p>Activating her spear, she makes an ineffective slash at the Dragon’s hind leg, then breaks into a run, heading for an array of exquisite vases. She stops long enough to see that the Dragon is raising a claw to crush Iscalio, and desperately she shouts, “Mr. Kanir! Over here!”</p><p></p><p>The Dragon pauses for a moment to see her, then realizes what exactly a woman with a spear could do to Ming vases. He begins to leap at her, and Jenny, though shuddering with fear, is relieved that in a moment the way will be clear for Iscalio, Finagle, and Michael. Unfortunately, in mid-jump, Dornankanir is distracted again when Cai fires a blast of shotgun pellets into one wing. The blast only stings the Dragon, but he turns to face the greater concentration of humans, taking Jenny down with a lash of his tail that catches her in the chest and knocks her away from the vases. </p><p></p><p>Dornankanir’s eyes crackle with arcs of electricity, and his gaze levels upon Michael, who is only now dully moving toward the van, being ushered forward by Cai and Iscalio. Finagle sees the lightning surging in the Dragon’s mouth, and with a shout, he leaps into the line of fire, catching the bolt in his back and protecting Michael. The jolt of the electrical blast hurls him through the air to land in the back of the van, where Galindrel lies almost comatose for some unknown reason.</p><p></p><p>Struggling to her feet, Jenny gasps for breath, but steels herself for another attempt to get the Dragon away from her teammates, when suddenly a voice projects out over the clamor. </p><p></p><p>“Sir, a call for you.”</p><p></p><p>Dornankanir turns his head to see his butler standing beside the van in the doorway, holding a portable phone. Another shotgun blast and several pistol rounds pepper him, and he angrily waves a claw at the knights. “Stop shooting. I have to take this.”</p><p></p><p>Seeing that Dornankanir is distracted, holding a fragile little phone between his claws, Jenny staggers into the back of the van and focuses her energies to heal Finagle, only to find that he seems quite healthy, if woozy. Finagle has always had an affinity for electronics, and apparently also for electricity, so the bolt barely hurt him.</p><p></p><p>Quickly pulling the door shut as the last of the knights gets into the van, Cai calls for Madeline to drive. When Finagle realizes that they must have driven through the front door to rescue them, he says they should stop. Madeline slows as the van begins to roll down the steps, but Cai stops Finagle before he can hop out of the back of the van. </p><p></p><p>Through the open back door of the van, Finagle P. Luckshore points at the ruined oak door at the front of the mansion. </p><p></p><p>“Look, the Dragon will be royally pissed if we leave his door that way, but I have a mending spell. Give me a few hours and that door’ll be as good as plywood!”</p><p></p><p>A resounding ‘no’ from the van leaves Finagle pouting as Madeline provides their getaway. As they head for a Bureau parking house, Iscalio, Cai, and Jenny try to question Michael, to see why the heck he shouted something in Dragonish at the man. Unfortunately, Michael doesn’t even remember the exchange, and he claims that he doesn’t even know Draconic, so he couldn’t tell them what he’d said even if he knew he’d said it.</p><p></p><p>The only question that they haven’t addressed is Galindrel, but by now the Elvish sorcerer seems to be doing fine. He explains that he really wasn’t supposed to go with them into the mansion, because of what just happened. Dragons have powerful magical auras, strong enough to overpower people native to Gaia. Spirits, which are slightly connected with Gaia, can be momentarily dazed by contact with a Dragon’s aura, which is why classically dragon-slayers were always warriors and not magi. Everyone vaguely recalls having heard something about draconic auras in their initial training, but no one had reminded them before they went on this mission.</p><p></p><p>The short mission seems rather pointless, but then Cai sighs in acceptance. He shrugs and pats the computer terminal that had been recording the signals from Jenny and Iscalio’s wires. They can get it translated when they get back to headquarters.</p><p></p><p>Finagle’s sad mood perks up, and he mentions that the guy who lives next door to him is great with computers, and that he’s pretty sure his buddy Brian would gladly translate it for them. From now on, though, Finagle tended to call Michael the “psycho cop” as often as he’d call him by his real name.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 13981, member: 63"] [size=3][b]Chapter Six: Sir, a call for you[/b][/size] Three nights ago, Flarinaman, a 450-year-old Dragon living in Atlanta, was murdered while vacationing in Savannah, caught by a fireball before he could finish polymorphing back to normal from his human form. The death of a wealthy businessman . . . err, businessDragon, has greatly upset the Bureau, especially because Flarinaman made yearly financial ‘contributions’ to the Bureau to make sure they would not reveal his identity. Now the Bureau has to dispose of a gargantuan reptilian body, provide a fake corpse for a fake funeral, and explain why a historical Savannah house seems to have exploded, the nasty side of effect of Flarinaman’s body reverting to its natural form at death. A 450-year-old Dragon just doesn’t very easily into an old house. As if this wasn’t enough to worry the Bureau, the night before Flarinaman’s death, another Dragon was murdered in Hong Kong. Millionaire businesswoman Li Tsi Tong was assassinated in the 70th-floor penthouse of her skyscraper (thankfully, her penthouse is large enough to contain a 30-foot long gold Dragon), in what was apparently a vicious battle. They’ve dispatched a team to handle the clean-up and redistribution of her assets, but in the meanwhile, knights around the world are having to work their li’l butts off to protect all the Dragons around the world, especially the high-profile ones. The Bureau assigns the knights in Savannah (Iscalio, Cai, Jenny, Finagle, and Madeline, but not Tagin, who is on special assignment somewhere in China) to visit, question, and in general investigate Max Dorman, a Savannah local. He’s from the prestigious Dorman line, an Old Money family that has existed on the Georgia coast for almost two centuries. In truth, however, all the various Mr. Dorman’s through that time have been the same Dragon. Assets have just been consistently willed to offspring, nephews, or younger brothers whenever a particular alias reached the credible limits of human lifespan. Dornankanir, a bronze-scaled Dragon from Norse stock, took up the mantle of the Dorman family when it would have died out in 1812. Not a millionaire, but quite rich by anyone’s measure, Dornankanir is not only a potential victim, but also a suspect. The knights are sent to go because they were the ones who witnessed Jericho Wright’s behavior as he fled the scene of Flarinaman’s death. As a precaution, to keep the old Dragon from acting rashly and attacking the newbie knights, the Chief sends along Michael Dunne, the paladin from the graveyard, and Galindrel White, an Elvish sorcerer who’s handy with both attack and escape magic (played by the same guy who played Keira in the last game). The knights travel to the northern outskirts of Savannah, to the Dorman family’s old plantation house. They travel in a van, a typical undercover cop-style van with radios and receivers and tape recorders galore, but which looks like a plumbing van from the outside. Madeline drives, quite proud that she has memorized the street map of Savannah. Madeline parks the van on the outskirts of the estate, and she, Cai, and Galindrel stay in the van, while Michael, Jenny, Iscalio, and Finagle walk through the well-tended gardens to the mansion’s front door. Finagle and Jenny wear wires, so the knights in the van can hear what’s going on, and Finagle also jury-rigged a mini-cam to fit in his messy and unkempt hair. Reaching the front door, Michael rings the doorbell, but no one answers for several moments. Frustrated, complaining that Dornankanir was always a pain for the Bureau, he tries the knob and finds it unlocked, so they proceed inside. Jenny is a bit nervous about this, and makes a point to say loudly enough for the recorders to pick it up that she thinks it’s a bad idea to barge into the man’s house. Then, she reconsiders, saying it is a [I]very[/I] bad idea to barge into a Dragon’s house. Michael shrugs and says that he’s fought Dragons before. Uneager, Jenny wants to remain outside, but her ghost, Pataman, urges her to follow Michael. He senses something odd about the man, but can say nothing more useful than that, “his voice is uneasy.” Reluctantly, Jenny goes inside, warily watching Michael as the older and more experienced knight leads the way. The main foyer is well-furnished and perfectly maintained, but still no one greets them. Shrugging, Michael tells Finagle and Jenny to check up a flight of stairs while he and Iscalio work on the bottom floor. Before the theatre student and the computer geek can even reach the second floor, though, Iscalio shouts for them to come back down, the sound of envy in his voice. The knights have found, down a wide hallway, a set of double doors that lead into a huge, high-ceilinged chamber, filled with a full layer of coins an inch deep, with large mounds scattered about the room. Michael shrugs as Iscalio furtively glances around at the glittering riches. Through the radio receivers in their ears, they hear Cai warn his brother not to piss off the Dragon. Iscalio frowns and mutters that he wasn’t planning to steal anything. On edge from the silence of the house, Jenny tries to look around and admire the treasure to keep her mind off her fear. The knights exchange glances, and they’re just about to leave to check out the rest of the mansion when someone clears his throat in the doorway. Everyone turns to see a well-dressed man in his forties, with light brown hair and stern features, glaring at them disapprovingly, absently holding a martini in his right hand. “Please tell me you’re robbers and not the Bureau again.” They wait for Michael to speak, since he’s the leader of this mission, but the blond paladin just stares at the polymorphed Dragon. Nervously coughing, Jenny takes charge and informs Max Dorman, the current human form of Dornankanir, about the murders, and tells him they need to ask him a few questions. In response, the Dragon complains that the knights broke into his home, and he demands they leave. They can make an appointment with his secretary if they want to speak with him; that’s how most humans do business. Taking offense to the insulting tone that the Dragon used when saying “human,” Iscalio begins firing off a string of questions, trying to get the Dragon off balance. Aside from saying that, yes, he often makes business trips, but no, he hasn’t been to China, Max Dorman refuses to answer to Iscalio’s interrogation. “Now, get out of my house,” Max Dorman says. “I have a charity I plan to attend in Atlanta this weekend, and I have to finalize my plans. It’s for an important cause. Saving the environment from [I]human encroachment[/I].” “Human encroachment my ass!” Iscalio shouts. “Lay the :):):):) off the human insults, you-” Jenny grabs Iscalio’s shoulder and tugs him back away from the businessman. “Iscalio,” she reminds him, “you’re the one calling yourself a Druid, remember? You’re supposed to be in favor of protecting the environment.” Iscalio grumbles, and Max Dorman clears his throat again. “I’ve had enough of this. If you don’t want a lawsuit, you’ll get the hell off my proper-” Michael cuts him off, speaking a guttural language, shouting something angrily at the Dragon. Immediately, Jenny and Finagle’s ghosts warn that they see something odd that seems to be covering Michael’s body, and Iscalio’s fox ghost growls, bristling. In the van, the knights listening on the radio shrug, not recognizing a word Michael just said. Finagle makes sure to record the event with his camera, as Dornankanir shouts something back at Michael, again in what they assume must be Draconic. Michael takes a step forward in reply, his hand going to the hilt of his light sword, and the blond man growls out another phrase in Draconic. Before any of the other knights can try to stop the situation, Max Dorman’s body contorts, and a bronze-scaled beast tears out of the guise of a human businessman. Jenny has the presence of mind to shout, “He’s turning into a Dragon!” so the knights in the van will know what’s up, while Finagle had decided to run instead of watching the Dragon revert to his normal, fierce self. Whether they are looking at Dornankanir or not, though, they feel a powerful thrum of energy pass through them. For a moment, their contact with their ghost wavers, and then stabilizes, but everyone except Michael is too unsettled to move for a moment. Michael stands almost completely still, and doesn’t even seem to see the twenty-foot long Dragon towering over him. Growling at them in deep, hissing voice speaking English, Dornankanir tells them they made a mistake insulting him in his own home. His massive bulk blocks the exit out of the hoard room, and he takes a deliberate step toward them. Iscalio ignites the blade of his scythe and runs forward to attack, but Dornankanir simply lines his gaze up with the albino Druid, and Iscalio’s legs go weak. He falls backward, dropping his scythe and staring up in momentary panic at the Dragon. In the van, Madeline leaps into the driver’s seat at Cai’s urging and swerves the vehicle around, gunning the pedal to drive the car up the main paved walkway to Max Dorman’s house. Galindrel conveniently cowers in the back of the van, saying quietly that they really shouldn’t just go- And with a crash the van drives up the steps and smashes through the large front door of the mansion. Moving too fast to stop, Madeline puts the van into a 180 degree spin, and, now moving in reverse, it skids down the hallway to the doorway of the horde room. Cai throws open the back door of the van and yells for everyone to get in. Jenny tries to shake Michael out of his fear, but then she sees his expression. Unlike Iscalio, Michael isn’t afraid. He looks more dazed, as if almost asleep. She shouts for Finagle to help Iscalio and Michael, then tries to draw off Dornankanir’s attention. Activating her spear, she makes an ineffective slash at the Dragon’s hind leg, then breaks into a run, heading for an array of exquisite vases. She stops long enough to see that the Dragon is raising a claw to crush Iscalio, and desperately she shouts, “Mr. Kanir! Over here!” The Dragon pauses for a moment to see her, then realizes what exactly a woman with a spear could do to Ming vases. He begins to leap at her, and Jenny, though shuddering with fear, is relieved that in a moment the way will be clear for Iscalio, Finagle, and Michael. Unfortunately, in mid-jump, Dornankanir is distracted again when Cai fires a blast of shotgun pellets into one wing. The blast only stings the Dragon, but he turns to face the greater concentration of humans, taking Jenny down with a lash of his tail that catches her in the chest and knocks her away from the vases. Dornankanir’s eyes crackle with arcs of electricity, and his gaze levels upon Michael, who is only now dully moving toward the van, being ushered forward by Cai and Iscalio. Finagle sees the lightning surging in the Dragon’s mouth, and with a shout, he leaps into the line of fire, catching the bolt in his back and protecting Michael. The jolt of the electrical blast hurls him through the air to land in the back of the van, where Galindrel lies almost comatose for some unknown reason. Struggling to her feet, Jenny gasps for breath, but steels herself for another attempt to get the Dragon away from her teammates, when suddenly a voice projects out over the clamor. “Sir, a call for you.” Dornankanir turns his head to see his butler standing beside the van in the doorway, holding a portable phone. Another shotgun blast and several pistol rounds pepper him, and he angrily waves a claw at the knights. “Stop shooting. I have to take this.” Seeing that Dornankanir is distracted, holding a fragile little phone between his claws, Jenny staggers into the back of the van and focuses her energies to heal Finagle, only to find that he seems quite healthy, if woozy. Finagle has always had an affinity for electronics, and apparently also for electricity, so the bolt barely hurt him. Quickly pulling the door shut as the last of the knights gets into the van, Cai calls for Madeline to drive. When Finagle realizes that they must have driven through the front door to rescue them, he says they should stop. Madeline slows as the van begins to roll down the steps, but Cai stops Finagle before he can hop out of the back of the van. Through the open back door of the van, Finagle P. Luckshore points at the ruined oak door at the front of the mansion. “Look, the Dragon will be royally pissed if we leave his door that way, but I have a mending spell. Give me a few hours and that door’ll be as good as plywood!” A resounding ‘no’ from the van leaves Finagle pouting as Madeline provides their getaway. As they head for a Bureau parking house, Iscalio, Cai, and Jenny try to question Michael, to see why the heck he shouted something in Dragonish at the man. Unfortunately, Michael doesn’t even remember the exchange, and he claims that he doesn’t even know Draconic, so he couldn’t tell them what he’d said even if he knew he’d said it. The only question that they haven’t addressed is Galindrel, but by now the Elvish sorcerer seems to be doing fine. He explains that he really wasn’t supposed to go with them into the mansion, because of what just happened. Dragons have powerful magical auras, strong enough to overpower people native to Gaia. Spirits, which are slightly connected with Gaia, can be momentarily dazed by contact with a Dragon’s aura, which is why classically dragon-slayers were always warriors and not magi. Everyone vaguely recalls having heard something about draconic auras in their initial training, but no one had reminded them before they went on this mission. The short mission seems rather pointless, but then Cai sighs in acceptance. He shrugs and pats the computer terminal that had been recording the signals from Jenny and Iscalio’s wires. They can get it translated when they get back to headquarters. Finagle’s sad mood perks up, and he mentions that the guy who lives next door to him is great with computers, and that he’s pretty sure his buddy Brian would gladly translate it for them. From now on, though, Finagle tended to call Michael the “psycho cop” as often as he’d call him by his real name. [/QUOTE]
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Savannah Knights (mild update 06-10-05)
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