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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1571173" data-attributes="member: 15043">Return to Sigil... Ten Years Later“Okay, Ari, we’re here!” Siabrey announced.  As the little boy streaked ahead and into the manor, streamers of color flowing behind him, she glanced at her children.How could THEY even keep up with him?The baby dragon was even more energetic than after they had first left the cave.  Grumki, using his powers as one of the Chief Chainbreakers in the Church of Kord, was able to pray for some food to help the “little boy with his strength.”  A full banquet had been called, and at first the half-orc had said that a great amount of food would go to waste... until Ari had, in the space of 15 minutes, managed to gobble up half of it.  The little boy still dashed around, as if there weren’t several hundred pounds of food in his body... and with his speed, Siabrey was sure he’d be hungry again soon.  Quickly she asked Luke who the chief servant was, and dragged the man out of the kitchen.“Majesty?” the man bowed, curious.  “Was there something wrong with the roasted food?  The pastries?”  “No! No, it was excellent!” Siabrey hurriedly corrected.  “I just need you to cook more.”“Ah,” the chef smiled, “Then I know it was truly good if Your Majesties desire more!” he called his hands in delight.“Um... yes!” Siabrey seized the excuse offered to her.  “We loved it so much... we need... um... fifteen more courses!” she said decisively.  The poor chef stumbled backwards slightly, in shock.“Um...Majesty, it might take some time...”“Work as fast as you can,” Siabrey urged, looking over her shoulder uneasily at Ari.  “Um... the children are hungry,” she gave a polite smile to excuse her request.  She could tell that while the chef maintained proper decorum in bowing to her request, his eyes belied the confusion in his mind.“Well,” Luke said quietly as Siabrey was talking to the cooks, “I set a messenger to Iskeldrun by the small teleportation chamber here... the Chief Court Mage should arrive shortly.”“Luke... why was there that little twist in your voice?   You don’t like the man?” Tess raised an eyebrow, reading Luke’s mannerisms like a book.  “Is he capable?  Someone we know?”“All too well,” Luke sighed.  “Newest Chief Court Mage... by seniority this time.  And you all know him as Aeron...”“What?!” Tess gasped slightly.“Great,” Shaun rolled his eyes, “We have to deal with an angry mother dragon and Mr. Know-it-all in the flesh.”“Siabrey gave him the appointment,” Luke grumbled slightly.  “I was busy trying to keep the Dukes of Chalcedon and Northmark from throttling each other-““I remember that!  Hey Tess, didn’t your organization have to-“ Shaun interrupted excitedly.“Yes,” Tess said, nodding back towards Luke.  Once her point of ‘be quiet’ got through to the rogue, Luke continued.“-anyways, she took care of that mess... and appointed him.”“Well, he did act more civil towards her after she point a sword to his throat,” Tess mused.“I would act more civil towards her if she put her sword to my throat too!” Shaun rejoined, only to hear Siabrey clearing her throat behind him... yet again.  “I spoke at the wrong time, didn’t I?” Shaun winced.Siabrey merely gave him a growl of disapproval, before looking towards Luke.  “Aeron’s on his way?”“Yes... should be here any moment.”  Luke’s eyes drifted towards the young dragon now literally running circles in the manor foyer, squealing.  Tark was playfully chasing him, and Eleyanaun and Siabracius had both jumped in the fun.  Amarine, Valaron, Vintressa, and the three Dice children were old enough to figure out that the storm clouds of punishment hadn’t cleared yet... they laughed, but only nervously.“A what?” Chief Court Mage, Arbiter of the Arcane, etc. etc. etc. Aeron said in surprise.“A baby prismatic dragon,” Siabrey repeated.  “Our children found him, and evidently he was left or abandoned by his mother.  We need to find his mother,” the Empress gave a slight gulp, “before she finds us, and gets into a very bad mood.”“Hmm... I should like to see this little dragon,” Aeron announced, rubbing his chin, “No such dragon has ever before been observed by our mages or masters of the arcane.  It could prove invaluable!”“Well, he’s right there,” Siabrey pointed towards Ari, who was now clinging on Tark’s back, the half-orc giving the polymorphed dragon a piggyback ride.“The... child?  You mean he can polymorph at only a few weeks old?” Aeron said, eyes wide in wonder.  When the party nodded yes, he took another step back.  “My knowledge on this creature is proving even more sparse than I feared.  I can recite the legends of them to you, if you wish... but no concrete facts.”“Legends then?” Tess said, “A legend, like a good song, and a good lie, always has some truth wrapped deep within its folds.”“True,” the wizard gave her a slight deferential nod.  Tess was surprised at how civil he seemed, as the wizard continued   “According to legend, there is one prismatic dragon per world... a sort of ‘dragon overlord’ of some sort... we’ve never been able to piece it together fully.  How the prismatic arrives if it is the only one is beyond all of us, and how it ‘lords’ is beyond us as well...”“Well, to put it bluntly,” Luke’s governing mind chimed in, “does it, according to legend, marshal armies, and overthrow existing powers?  Or does it ‘lord’ passively, or in some other manner?”  Siabrey could tell in her husband’s mind he didn’t think the little Ari would be a threat, but the important question needed to be raised.“Not that I know of,” Aeron said, looking at the now screaming little boy, playing hide and seek with Amarine, “they lord over other dragons... settle disputes among the metallics, and try to keep the chromatics in line... that sort of thing.”“Well, thats all nice and pretty,” Shaun folded his arms, “but that doesn’t tell us anything about his mother, where she is, or even why she’d leave him behind.”“Maybe he’s sick, and she left him for dead?” Luke asked thoughtfully.  “I know some animals do that.”“Dragons are not mere animals, Majesty,” Xanadu interrupted coldly.  When he saw Luke recoil slightly at the sudden iciness of his statement, Xanadu gave a sigh of apology.  “Those questions posed by Shaun bother me too.  You travel off-plane frequently, Tess and Aeron.  While I know you both do far different business off-plane, is there any way for either of you to dredge up anything on prismatics from worlds that have them already?”“Well, I could spread the word through some... friends,” Tess stopped herself before she mentioned the organization... Aeron was not in the clear to know about it, “but  that could take weeks.”“Weeks his mother might use to find us and decide our story is not worth listening to,” Shaun added.“Well, I know of one man who might.  He’s a half-elf, actually,” Aeron corrected.  By the wizard’s face, it was clear there was something unpleasant about this, ‘man.’  “His name is Gunter Melachis... he resides in Sigil.”“What’s the bad news?” Siabrey crossed her arms.   “I’ve seen that face on mages before.  It means, ‘there is something bad I don’t know whether I should tell the Empress.’”“Nothing is wrong with him... he, like many people in Sigil, is merely... odd,” Aeron said rather too quickly.  By the way his eyes rapidly flipped between Siabrey and Xanadu, the Empress could tell it was likely something that shouldn’t be said in front of the dragon.“You’re pretty odd yourself.  I would count most mages as odd,” Shaun chimed in, before catching a withering gaze from his wife.  “What?”Thankful for the rogue’s interruption of the uncomfortable silence that threatened, Siabrey cleared her throat.  “Well, friend Aeron, I think we should go see this Gunter.”“I’m going this time!” Luke announced suddenly.  “I’ve never seen Sigil!  I want to see the city that all of you talk about visiting so long ago!”“Fine... another blade.  That means Xanny, Alisandra, you should probably stay,” Tess reasoned.  “If Ari’s mother shows up, you would have a better chance of explaining to her what’s going on... as it sounds like to me that the prismatics at least listen to metallics like yourselves.”“And you can watch our miscreant children,” Siabrey added, causing the dragon to roll his eyes.  “If Val or Vin misbehave... inform them that they will be cut off from chocolates for the next week for each time they irritate you.”“Siabrey!  That’s cold!” Luke said, impressed.“I’ll come with... to show you all where Gunter lives,” Aeron said matter of factly.  “I had a tripped planned to Sigil to gather some information on chaotic rocs, and how to artificially grow their feathers.  Our friend Asuri claims he’s developed a way using some conjuration magic,” the wizard blubbered, going faster and faster in excitement till he saw everyone else present.  Siabrey waved her hand over her head, showing where Aeron’s words had flown.“Sorry... I got a little excited,” he uneasily scratched his head.“Now, Valaron, Vintressa!” Siabrey knelt in front of her two children, a stern hand on each of their shoulders.  “Me and Dad are leaving for a bit.  We’ll be back soon.  In the meantime,” she added, “you two are going to be the highest ranked people at this manor.  I want you to be good hosts,” she looked directly at Vintressa, “and good stewards,” she looked at Valaron.  “I lost much trust in you after what happened earlier today, and tonight you have a chance to rebuild that trust.  Understand?”The two nodded.“Good.  Now, I want you to make sure our guest, Ari, is well fed, and happy.  Vin, you’ll sleep in Val’s bed tonight if Ari has to stay overnight, okay?”“But mom!” Vin started to complain, before a sharp look from her mother’s eyes told her to cease.“He is an honored guest!  It is rare to have a dragon of his kind here!  And you all want your playmate to feel at home, do you not?”“Yes mother,” the twins lowered their heads and nodded.“And I also want you to listen to Uncle Xanadu and Aunt Alisandra.  Do whatever they tell you.  You are to respect them as much as me or your father.”“Yes mother.”“And if you do good in this,” Siabrey smiled, preparing to offer her carrot, “I might reconsider some of the potential punishments for your mistakes earlier today.  Ok?”  The children’s eyes lit up, and they jumped slightly, smiles on their faces.“Yes mother!”“Everyone here?” Siabrey asked a few minutes later as the party walked into the teleportation chamber.“Yup, check,” Luke nodded after he’d done a quick head count, coming up with the requisite number.“Supplies?”“Check.”“Ok... have the kids been lectured?” Tess asked as the party stepped into .  “Check,” Shaun said quietly, running a hand over his fine outer coat to push down its wrinkles.  If I’m going to Sigil, merchant’s heaven, I need to look GOOD.  Who knows what kind of deals can be made in the meantime?“Alright, I guess we’re ready then!”The swirls and mists of teleportation grew up around the party, presently numbering Siabrey, Luke, Tess, Shaun, Elenya, Pell and Aeron.  Unlike their last collective trip to Sigil, no one lost their dinner... all were by now used to the raucous nature of teleportation travel.As the air around them cleared to reveal a small, cracked teleportation chamber, two large mercanes dominated its entrance, the party calmly gave their names, ranks, and weapons to be catalogued and registered.  Quickly, they found themselves on the streets of Sigil... into which Luke gawked.“The buildings!  They’re all massive?  How can they build such massive structures out of... wood and stucco?” he marveled at one of the lower structures that towered a good eighty feet overhead.“Luke, pick your jaw up off the ground.  You’re an Emperor,” Siabrey replied conversationally.  Architecture had grown into a hobby of Luke’s; Siabrey found it bordering dangerously on dull.“This place looks a little different than the sections we went through last time,” Shaun mumbled.  “A lot more...”“Run down?” Aeron asked, briskly leading the rest through a sea of people in the narrow streets.  Dirty water splashed at their feet, a puddle that Shaun deftly avoided to keep his clothes clean.  “It is run down.  Gunter has his place of business slightly out of the way for legitimate work.”“What?  You associate with smugglers?” Tess said, semi-shocked that the normally proper and disdainfully courtly Aeron would stoop to something like that.“Yes... when one needs Tarrasque hide, it is far easier to get it from the black market up here, as opposed to hunting one down,” the wizard commented dryly.“What’s a tarrasque?” Shaun inquired.“You don’t want to know!” Tess and Aeron rejoined quickly, both of their eyes wide.It took a few more minutes before Aeron turned left, and then right, through several even more narrow alleyways.  Finally, the wizard led them to a door that looked old, and party rotted.  Above it hung a sign merely stating “Malachis Rare Items,” in what the party recognized as Common, Elven, and (Siabrey, having spent long periods with her father at the palace learning his tongue, could read it) Sylvan.  Aeron delivered a rather strange set of knocks, causing the door to open rather quickly.  On its own.Aeron motioned for them to head inside, and as the party’s eyes adjusted to the darker interior lit only by candles, their eyes found themselves met with the sight of books... thousands of books.  They were piled, stacked, and arranged haphazardly about a small, even tiny room.More alarming were what they were stacked on, or surmounted by.  Siabrey and Shaun had both seen dragonscale furniture before... indeed, they owned a set of tables, chairs, and dinnerware made from the scales of a felled great red wyrm.  What troubled the party was the color of these pieces of ware...A large table was made from massive, shiny golden scales and white teeth, while on the wall hung the massive gleaming spine of the back ridge of a large silver dragon.  The floor itself seemed parqued from a mixture of bronze, brass and copper scales, and the head of a small bronze dragon graced the far wall, its wyrmling eyes peeking just over one of the intervening bookshelves.“Alkor?” a quiet voice asked, as scraping noises came from back, “Is that you?  Did you bring me that golden wyrm eye like I asked?”</blockquote>

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