So we return to the summer court, approach Fordren and ask him for yet another six-eyes talk. He realizes that we're being even more serious than usual, so suggests a second stroll at the beach.
“We know who you are, so no need for more secrets and lies.” Carlyle says calmly.
“I see. I've been warned in advance. You are quite the persistent lot.”
('Twas Harkover Lee who got the sending out in time. Guess he feared that Gradiax might overreact should he feel threatened by our knowledge of the pact)
“I take this as a compliment” Auryn replies cautiously while keeping a close eye on the man.
We then carefully ask him whether our assumption that another dragon, his offspring, might be hiding on the Isla, which is why we might need his help to prevent a catastrophe. He reminds us that we don't need to be that cautious as he knows about our intentions and then suddenly turns all talkative himself.
“You see, fifty years ago I had been quite lonely, so when I discovered this egg inside my old hoard I decided to incubate it. And then she... hatched! I didn't remember that whelplings are so tiny when they crawl out of their shells. And she, Teraklir, was of the most adorable kind.” Fordren says with what no one though he could ever display: Genuine, loving emotions for a person other than himself. He pauses for a while and melancholy enters his voice.
“But alas, she was crippled, deformed. Tainted. Born without both wing and claw. A disgrace.”
“A disgrace for whom? Not for you I suppose. And why would Gradiax even care for the opinions of lesser dragons?” Carlyle adds, instinctively supporting even the child of a dragon while playing with the elder dragon's pride.
Fordren nods sternly before he continues his tale. He explains that young dragons lack the ability to take on a human form, and he couldn't allow her to enter the realm of mortals without risking her and his wellbeing. So he created a single duplicant and gave it to her as a gift to explore the outside world. He also gave her one of his personas, the identity of the industrialist Benedict Pemberton, when he realized that Teraklir was as interested in technology as he.
(So yeah, this is what the “little sparrow” was all about. A father calling his daughter by a cute nickname. Even if the name lost much of its cutesy and was filled with bitterness over time)
He goes on to tell more about Teraklir's development after that. Like all young dragons she turned rebellious when she grew older and tried to cut herself off from her powerful father. Bit by bit she must have somehow been able to reverse engineer the duplicant technology (Maybe with a bit of help from Tinker Oddcog?) and, well, duplicated it. He guesses that she then developed a plan to replace people with key positions of power in Ber to eventually take over the country.
“A brilliant plan indeed, but utterly foolish and dangerous in the hands of a whelp. No surprise that she screwed it up in the end. Oh my, Teraklir, what chaos, what dangers you have put us all in.” Fordren says with an honest sigh while also praising his child's plan to basically usurp Ber.
“Dangers for all of us indeed” Carlyle adds. “You know that we cannot just let your child throw Ber into more chaos and we also cannot risk having her reveal the secret of dragons being alive”
For a moment, Gradiax just stares right through Carlyle with a look that could kill. We then swiftly add that King Aodhan has offered to let Teraklir join the Pact of Boyle if she wishes to do so, so she may continue living her life in peace. And as we also guess that Pardo and his gnolls know about the existence of living dragons, we'd also need a proper dragon duplicant to provide convincing evidence that the gnolls had merely been fooled by some clever tinkering.
(Well... literally Tinker-ing. Do not remind me of all the Oddcog puns)
Fordren seems to relax a bit but also states that convincing his stubborn daughter might be a fool's errand as she's solely focused on accumulating power right now.
“Damn you, little sparrow, why are you so desperately trying to prove your worth?”
This is where we just ignore the fact that both Gradiax and Teraklir are dragons and see the dilemma both father and daughter are trapped in: Gradiax, who is genuinely loving his child (no matter what Lee has said before) and who is seemingly concerned that she might have maneuvered herself into a corner and said daughter Teraklir who seems to be trying to prove her worth to her father no matter her birth defects.
“Maybe someone who's as strong-willed as your daughter might help her see the trap she's sitting in right now?” Auryn asks carefully, resulting in a short laugh from Fordren.
But even he sees that allying with us in that regard might be his best chance of getting Teraklir out alive. He warns us that making her listen will not be an easy task as he, in his fatherly concern, also created a powerful defensive/offensive matrix tied to his lair that could empower his daughter to be on par with a fully grown dragon. A device so strong that it might make her feel invincible. He then offers us to tell us the means to disable said magical matrix if we promise to him that his daughter will live.
As we don't wish to see the dragon's secret unearthed and also see no reason to kill what must be a dragon teenager with too much power (especially one who also maybe suffered from her father's superiority complex), we promise to keep Teraklir alive. Fordren seems satisfied and so he tells us that the Matrix consists of 36 blue and 36 green gems, floating in a complex geometrical pattern. And that all we have to do to shut it down would be to collect all the gems. He explains that, while we'll be busy trying to infiltrate his hoard, he'll be on the move, too, trying to regain control over his old defensive mechanisms.
We promise to do our best to prevent a catastrophe, but also state that protecting Risur has to be our top priority. And as both of our parties need to make several preparations, we excuse ourselves and head back to our tent at the summer court.
(can I just say that Gradiax' experiences with Teraklir just added another layer to his relationship with Auryn? I can easily see him getting frustrated by a teenage Teraklir who shuts old dad out and basically works against him in some regard as Pemberton all while he wished to keep his little whelp he adored so much. He's just the one who'd have a hard time accepting that his offspring has a will of her own. So... fast forward to Auryn whom he thought would be much easier to control and keep. Which turned out to be so much not the case as well. )
There, both Auryn and Carlyle try to sort all of these new information out while trying to make sense of it. Auryn seems very much surprised by “Fordren's” love for his daughter and explains that she needs some time to process what she just learned from the King and what appears to be a 3000 years old dragon in the guise of a danoran industrialist. Especially if that includes maybe a spark of sympathy for said dragon.
“I... I just don't understand what I'm feeling right now. Relief? Concern? I mean... dear Srasama, Francis Fodren is a dragon. What does that mean?”
“It means that you are beautiful.”
“Pardon...?”
“It is true. You see, if the oldest of Dragons wanted you, and only you, then you have to be someone special. Someone who deserves the attention of beings of legends. Also, this millennia old dragon just entrusted you with the well-being of his only child and he has sworn to never harm Risur or any Risuri, so you'll be safe forever. And I also got the feeling that you made quite the impression on him”
(Yeah, of course this is just Carlyle's way of stating his own thoughts and feelings. I guess he just doesn't think that his own opinion is impactful enough to state it directly.)
Auryn laughs silently in response.
“Then it shall be relief. Isn't it funny that knowing that my 'enemy' is not a mere man but a dragon is making me feel truly free for the first time? It is as you said... he cannot harm me. He's bound to King Aodhan by his pact with King Boyle”
(which is obviously just Auryn-speak for “there is someone who has power over him and this guy is on my side”)
Next we decide that we should rejoin Bruse Cavallo and his war campaign against the gnolls on the Isla. We learn that it might take up to one week until he got all ships ready for departure and hopes that our reinforcements will be able to make it in time. We promise that the Impossible and another vessel will join the beran fleet in time and also contact druids who are willing to help us with weather magic. Margit joins their cause, stating that shaping nature and influencing the weather has always been her schtick. We add that there might be some strange floating Island above the Isla that could cause the strange storms surrounding the home of the gnolls, which is something we've learned from an ancient tome.
(Which is pretty much a lie as Gradiax had told us that he doesn't know the real cause, but he had once seen hints of an island in the sky when he had tried to reach it as a young adult. We do believe that the Ziggurat of Avilona might be up there somewhere, but chose to ignore it for the moment as it was basically off limits)
Bruse Cavallo also informs us that the Danorans will be among the fleet as well, but he already arranged for them to be part of the rear defense and not be allowed to leave the formation. We take this as a reason to talk to Harkover Lee about the Danorans once again. We explain that Lya Jierre will most likely try to sneak onto the Isla de las Focas and ask him for his orders. The Principal Minister agrees that keeping the Pact a secret has to have utmost priority, even if that means silencing Lya Jierre. Should we have to resort to such drastic measures, Lee promises to gently inform our King of his fiancee's demise.
After this is settled, Carlyle turns to Auryn who's looking quite miserable at the prospect of ending Lya's life.
“You do know that I don't take lives lightheartedly, don't you? But if we got no other choice, I will do it. We're agents of Risur and Harkover Lee relies on our ability to make the right choice. And Lya Jierre is no innocent or hapless person. She knows what she's doing, even if she keeps making the wrong decisions”
Auryn nods slowly. “I understand. And I agree. But I do believe that there is another way, one that does not involve bloodshed. See, we do know quite a bit about the Isla and the hoard, courtesy of Gradiax. We know the only route she could take to get inside that hoard. So we intercept her when she's trying to get in and... that's it. She will know nothing about dragons and we got no reason to eliminate her”
“A fine plan. Alright, we'll do it your way.” Carlyle says, visibly relieved about both the alternative plan and the fact that his partner has taken his last resort so relatively calmly.
“We know who you are, so no need for more secrets and lies.” Carlyle says calmly.
“I see. I've been warned in advance. You are quite the persistent lot.”
('Twas Harkover Lee who got the sending out in time. Guess he feared that Gradiax might overreact should he feel threatened by our knowledge of the pact)
“I take this as a compliment” Auryn replies cautiously while keeping a close eye on the man.
We then carefully ask him whether our assumption that another dragon, his offspring, might be hiding on the Isla, which is why we might need his help to prevent a catastrophe. He reminds us that we don't need to be that cautious as he knows about our intentions and then suddenly turns all talkative himself.
“You see, fifty years ago I had been quite lonely, so when I discovered this egg inside my old hoard I decided to incubate it. And then she... hatched! I didn't remember that whelplings are so tiny when they crawl out of their shells. And she, Teraklir, was of the most adorable kind.” Fordren says with what no one though he could ever display: Genuine, loving emotions for a person other than himself. He pauses for a while and melancholy enters his voice.
“But alas, she was crippled, deformed. Tainted. Born without both wing and claw. A disgrace.”
“A disgrace for whom? Not for you I suppose. And why would Gradiax even care for the opinions of lesser dragons?” Carlyle adds, instinctively supporting even the child of a dragon while playing with the elder dragon's pride.
Fordren nods sternly before he continues his tale. He explains that young dragons lack the ability to take on a human form, and he couldn't allow her to enter the realm of mortals without risking her and his wellbeing. So he created a single duplicant and gave it to her as a gift to explore the outside world. He also gave her one of his personas, the identity of the industrialist Benedict Pemberton, when he realized that Teraklir was as interested in technology as he.
(So yeah, this is what the “little sparrow” was all about. A father calling his daughter by a cute nickname. Even if the name lost much of its cutesy and was filled with bitterness over time)
He goes on to tell more about Teraklir's development after that. Like all young dragons she turned rebellious when she grew older and tried to cut herself off from her powerful father. Bit by bit she must have somehow been able to reverse engineer the duplicant technology (Maybe with a bit of help from Tinker Oddcog?) and, well, duplicated it. He guesses that she then developed a plan to replace people with key positions of power in Ber to eventually take over the country.
“A brilliant plan indeed, but utterly foolish and dangerous in the hands of a whelp. No surprise that she screwed it up in the end. Oh my, Teraklir, what chaos, what dangers you have put us all in.” Fordren says with an honest sigh while also praising his child's plan to basically usurp Ber.
“Dangers for all of us indeed” Carlyle adds. “You know that we cannot just let your child throw Ber into more chaos and we also cannot risk having her reveal the secret of dragons being alive”
For a moment, Gradiax just stares right through Carlyle with a look that could kill. We then swiftly add that King Aodhan has offered to let Teraklir join the Pact of Boyle if she wishes to do so, so she may continue living her life in peace. And as we also guess that Pardo and his gnolls know about the existence of living dragons, we'd also need a proper dragon duplicant to provide convincing evidence that the gnolls had merely been fooled by some clever tinkering.
(Well... literally Tinker-ing. Do not remind me of all the Oddcog puns)
Fordren seems to relax a bit but also states that convincing his stubborn daughter might be a fool's errand as she's solely focused on accumulating power right now.
“Damn you, little sparrow, why are you so desperately trying to prove your worth?”
This is where we just ignore the fact that both Gradiax and Teraklir are dragons and see the dilemma both father and daughter are trapped in: Gradiax, who is genuinely loving his child (no matter what Lee has said before) and who is seemingly concerned that she might have maneuvered herself into a corner and said daughter Teraklir who seems to be trying to prove her worth to her father no matter her birth defects.
“Maybe someone who's as strong-willed as your daughter might help her see the trap she's sitting in right now?” Auryn asks carefully, resulting in a short laugh from Fordren.
But even he sees that allying with us in that regard might be his best chance of getting Teraklir out alive. He warns us that making her listen will not be an easy task as he, in his fatherly concern, also created a powerful defensive/offensive matrix tied to his lair that could empower his daughter to be on par with a fully grown dragon. A device so strong that it might make her feel invincible. He then offers us to tell us the means to disable said magical matrix if we promise to him that his daughter will live.
As we don't wish to see the dragon's secret unearthed and also see no reason to kill what must be a dragon teenager with too much power (especially one who also maybe suffered from her father's superiority complex), we promise to keep Teraklir alive. Fordren seems satisfied and so he tells us that the Matrix consists of 36 blue and 36 green gems, floating in a complex geometrical pattern. And that all we have to do to shut it down would be to collect all the gems. He explains that, while we'll be busy trying to infiltrate his hoard, he'll be on the move, too, trying to regain control over his old defensive mechanisms.
We promise to do our best to prevent a catastrophe, but also state that protecting Risur has to be our top priority. And as both of our parties need to make several preparations, we excuse ourselves and head back to our tent at the summer court.
(can I just say that Gradiax' experiences with Teraklir just added another layer to his relationship with Auryn? I can easily see him getting frustrated by a teenage Teraklir who shuts old dad out and basically works against him in some regard as Pemberton all while he wished to keep his little whelp he adored so much. He's just the one who'd have a hard time accepting that his offspring has a will of her own. So... fast forward to Auryn whom he thought would be much easier to control and keep. Which turned out to be so much not the case as well. )
There, both Auryn and Carlyle try to sort all of these new information out while trying to make sense of it. Auryn seems very much surprised by “Fordren's” love for his daughter and explains that she needs some time to process what she just learned from the King and what appears to be a 3000 years old dragon in the guise of a danoran industrialist. Especially if that includes maybe a spark of sympathy for said dragon.
“I... I just don't understand what I'm feeling right now. Relief? Concern? I mean... dear Srasama, Francis Fodren is a dragon. What does that mean?”
“It means that you are beautiful.”
“Pardon...?”
“It is true. You see, if the oldest of Dragons wanted you, and only you, then you have to be someone special. Someone who deserves the attention of beings of legends. Also, this millennia old dragon just entrusted you with the well-being of his only child and he has sworn to never harm Risur or any Risuri, so you'll be safe forever. And I also got the feeling that you made quite the impression on him”
(Yeah, of course this is just Carlyle's way of stating his own thoughts and feelings. I guess he just doesn't think that his own opinion is impactful enough to state it directly.)
Auryn laughs silently in response.
“Then it shall be relief. Isn't it funny that knowing that my 'enemy' is not a mere man but a dragon is making me feel truly free for the first time? It is as you said... he cannot harm me. He's bound to King Aodhan by his pact with King Boyle”
(which is obviously just Auryn-speak for “there is someone who has power over him and this guy is on my side”)
Next we decide that we should rejoin Bruse Cavallo and his war campaign against the gnolls on the Isla. We learn that it might take up to one week until he got all ships ready for departure and hopes that our reinforcements will be able to make it in time. We promise that the Impossible and another vessel will join the beran fleet in time and also contact druids who are willing to help us with weather magic. Margit joins their cause, stating that shaping nature and influencing the weather has always been her schtick. We add that there might be some strange floating Island above the Isla that could cause the strange storms surrounding the home of the gnolls, which is something we've learned from an ancient tome.
(Which is pretty much a lie as Gradiax had told us that he doesn't know the real cause, but he had once seen hints of an island in the sky when he had tried to reach it as a young adult. We do believe that the Ziggurat of Avilona might be up there somewhere, but chose to ignore it for the moment as it was basically off limits)
Bruse Cavallo also informs us that the Danorans will be among the fleet as well, but he already arranged for them to be part of the rear defense and not be allowed to leave the formation. We take this as a reason to talk to Harkover Lee about the Danorans once again. We explain that Lya Jierre will most likely try to sneak onto the Isla de las Focas and ask him for his orders. The Principal Minister agrees that keeping the Pact a secret has to have utmost priority, even if that means silencing Lya Jierre. Should we have to resort to such drastic measures, Lee promises to gently inform our King of his fiancee's demise.
After this is settled, Carlyle turns to Auryn who's looking quite miserable at the prospect of ending Lya's life.
“You do know that I don't take lives lightheartedly, don't you? But if we got no other choice, I will do it. We're agents of Risur and Harkover Lee relies on our ability to make the right choice. And Lya Jierre is no innocent or hapless person. She knows what she's doing, even if she keeps making the wrong decisions”
Auryn nods slowly. “I understand. And I agree. But I do believe that there is another way, one that does not involve bloodshed. See, we do know quite a bit about the Isla and the hoard, courtesy of Gradiax. We know the only route she could take to get inside that hoard. So we intercept her when she's trying to get in and... that's it. She will know nothing about dragons and we got no reason to eliminate her”
“A fine plan. Alright, we'll do it your way.” Carlyle says, visibly relieved about both the alternative plan and the fact that his partner has taken his last resort so relatively calmly.