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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 7196340" data-attributes="member: 9546">9 Gozran, 4718 - 10 Gozran, 4718 - Dragons Of Winter Night“And just where were you off to in such a hurry?” Tardaesha asked, her red eyes flashing with anger.“I told you all to run,” Jeratheon shrugged. “My father apparently added some new guardians since last I visited.”“Let’s hope, for your sake,” Tardaesha snapped, “that was the last little surprise that we run into.”Jeratheon snorted noncommittaly then turned and headed deeper into the cave mouth.It quickly became clear that the members of the Knot were not the first to come looking Chargammon. Over the years, the great wyrm had been visited by knights eager to prove their valor, treasure hunters seeking his hoard, and scholars desiring his secrets. They yet remained in the cold, wet caverns. Their bones littered the floor. Many of the carcasses were half-melted. The dragon's acid breath had obviously softened the victims' skeletons and their living tissues had flowed like molten metal. What remained had dried and rehardened, forming weird sculptures of bleached and fleshless bone. The dragon had adorned his domain with those many grisly trophies. Even more, there were broken weapons and melted armor. There was a mastodon skeleton in one of the side  caverns that had been cut neatly in half by a wave of acid taller than a man. In truth, these weren’t meant to scare off visitors. Chargammon was certain that if intruders had made it that far into his lair, a few bones wouldn’t dissuade them from going further. Rather, the sculptures were what Chargammon considered beautiful. The bones were a monument to his power. Nothing was there by chance. He had adorned his foyer with undeniable proof of his might. Chargammon was making a statement – by coming here, trespassers had chosen to join the dead.Finally, the companions arrived at the expansive grotto that was Chargammon's lair. It was a gigantic flooded cavern adorned only with scattered human and whale bones and murky water.“I warn you again,” Jeratheon spoke softly, his body visibly trembling, “mind your tongues here, unless you want to have them burned out of your skulls!”Kelvin shot a warning glance at Lemmy, who lifted his hands innocently. Jeratheon cleared his throat.“Father! I have returned!” he shouted.For several minutes, there was only silence. Then the water in the grotto erupted into an enormous geyser. Chargammon was truly a monster of legend. He was gigantic – just shy of fifty feet long.  His frame was light for his size and still the beast crested more than forty five tons in weight. His wet skin was glossy black and everywhere a litany of scars and small wounds revealed centuries of foolish dragon hunters trying to slay this horror. His eyes burned red as hellfire and there was an almost palpable evil aura about him. The only light in his cavern came from a half-dozen green ever-burning torches set on heavy iron sconces. They did little but cast the grotto into shadow and cause rippling green reflections of both fire and water to play across Chargammon's massive form. Both Grumblejack and Lemmy found themselves taking involuntary steps backwards as the full weight of the dragon’s menace fell upon them. “Have your lives proven so worthless, sub-creatures, that you have come here to offer them to me?” Chargammon asked in a rumbling hiss. “Wait a moment,” he paused, sniffing the air. “You stink of my son. You must be the fools who inflicted the worthless coward on me once more.” Jeratheon, who had still been skulking in the tunnel behind, slowly slinked into the room.“To do such a deed,” Chargammon continued, “you must want something. Speak!  Why do you seek audience with the great Chargammon?”“Mighy Chargammon,” Roger stepped forward, “you are a legend among legends. The atrocities you have inflicted upon the world are without peer! Thus, who better to come to mind when one plans on nothing less than toppling the king of Talingarde himself?!”Chargammon’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. Roger took this as a sign that he should continue.“We have knowledge that King Markadian, currently in the field with what remains of his army after we unleashed the Tears of Achlys upon it, has one weakness which could lead to his downfall: his love for his young, virginal daughter, Princess Bellinda. He has left her at home, under minimal guard, in the Adarium at Matheryn. If there was a sufficient threat to her, hypothetically something like a dragon attack, then the king would return to try and rescue her. When that happened, my brothers-in-arms and I would be waiting. It is for this that we have come to beseech your assistance.”““Why should I bother?” Chargammon asked. “Within my lair I am all powerful! None threaten me. If I slay the princess and the king survives, surely he will seek vengeance against me. Why rile such a hornet's nest How do I know this is not some trick? How can I be sure you do not foolishly try to lure me forth?”“Oh magnificent and mighty one,” Kelvin interjected, “chiefest of calamities, master of all dragons, lord of all the world – how could anyone threaten your greatness?”“A fair point,” Chargammon agreed. “You make a fine case, but you must think me a fool if you think I'll attack the Adarium for nothing.”“Well,” Lemmy piped up, momentarily forgetting Kelvin’s warning, “we did save yer boy.”“My son?” Chargammon laughed. “My pathetic worthless worm of a son?” He reached out casually with one massive forelimb and  slapped the younger dragon, sending him sprawling. “He is worse than nothing!” Jeratheon hissed back but another growl from his sire silenced him. ““No, before I slay your princess, you must answer my errand with an errand of blood of your own. I too have an enemy who has long pained me. I too have a rival I would see destroyed.”“Here we go,” Kat muttered, rolling her eyes.“South of here almost two hundred and fifty miles,” Chargammon continued, “where the Ansgarian Mountains and the Caer Bryr ends is the isle of the pathetic reprobate, the dragon Eiramanthus. It is sometimes named the Straya Avarna on maps. Eiramanthus is a copper wyrm who has long thwarted my plans and mocked my efforts. He thinks himself superior to me because he is beloved by so many. He believes that he is my rival! Hah! He is a bloated, decadent fool! He sits on his island and laughs at me, while he copulates with his three non-dragon concubine-whores. You come groveling to me for aid?  First you will aid me! I want him broken and decapitated. I want him purged from this world. You will burn every book, shatter every statue, slaughter every consort and lay waste to his entire island. I want it made into a desolation! I want every passing ship to marvel at its ruin! Do this for me and I will aid you. Now go. And if Eiramanthus still lives, return to me only if you wish to die”___________________________________________________________________There was little discussion to be had. Chargammon had made his demand and then promptly vanished back into his grotto, leaving his ‘guests’ and his son to ponder their next step. It would not be hard to find the island of Eiramanthus, based on Chargammon’s description, so it would just be a matter of traveling there, dealing with the concubines of an ancient dragon, then the dragon himself, and burn everything to the ground. Simple enough. Kelvin decided that teleportation would be their best bet. He gathered his companions around him, focused his mind on the coordinates, and cast his spell. They arrived at the fringe of the Caer Bryr a moment later, overlooking the sea. A mist-shrouded island could just be seen in the distance, but dawn was approaching. The vampires would need to rest while the others kept watch. Nightfall would be soon enough to begin their raid. As the sun faded below the horizon, the Nessian Knot set out across the water, flying low to avoid detection. An intricate barrier of stone, crystal and coralline reefs lay just beneath the surface of the sea that surrounded the isle. The reef teemed with alien sea life. Strange fish in a wild riot of color danced amongst the reefs, sharing the sea with stranger beasts unseen before upon this world. The reefs made any approach by ship very dangerous. There was a narrow safe passage through this labyrinth at the south end of the island, but without an expert sailor and more than a little luck a ship was likely to wreck upon those jagged rocks. This proved no impediment for the Knot, and they soared over the reef and into a large beach-enclosed lagoon. They had no sooner alighted upon the sand, when the water lapping the shore began to churn as a creature surfaced. She was mermaid-like, with the torso and head of a long-haired woman and the lower half of a sleek killer whale. She held a short spear, but did not seem aggressive, merely wary. “The island is closed,” she said in a soft musical voice “and the reefs are dangerous. Turn back or imperil  your lives.”“You must be one of the dragon’s whores,” Lemmy snarled. “I am Setia Swims-The-Sea-Of-Stars,” she said, anger in her voice, “and you are not welcome here!”“And I am Dakota Dannister, vampiress extraordinaire,” Dak grinned, baring her fangs, “and I’m welcome any damn where I please.”She raised her bow and, as Setia’s eyes widened in alarm, put an arrow through the agathion’s shoulder. Setia grunted and clutched at the shaft, but her gaze flashed with rage rather than pain. “You were warned,” she hissed.She clenched her fist and a shockwave of power rippled out in all directions. The companions of the Knot found themselves buffeted by a crackling blast of frigid cold and electricity. Grumblejack, whose fiendish nature granted him some small amount of protection against such energies, waded forward against the blast. When he reached Setia he swung his huge sword and sent her slamming back into the water. Tardaesha appeared at his side. Vampires were naturally immune to cold, and electricity found it difficult to conduct through their already-dead nerve endings. She thrust her own sword into Setia’s belly as she struggled to rise. Suddenly the water behind her began to boil as an enormous humanoid shape formed completely of liquid rose from the depths.“Mistress,” it’s gurgling voice rumbled, “you are in danger.”It raised one battering-ram-like fist and drove it into Grumblejack’s chest, driving the ogre back several paces.“And you will not be able to save her,” Kelvin replied.He waved one hand in a complicated pattern and the elemental simply disappeared, banished back to its home plane. Still, its appearance had given Setia a momentary chance to regroup. She flung out a hand and a conical blast of ice and snow lashed out, buffeting the companions. It was a desperate, last-ditch effort. Grumblejack and Tardaesha returned their attention to her and fell upon her in a flurry of steel and violence.___________________________________________________________________While the others waited behind on the beach, Tardaesha took to the air, the leathery wings thad had grown beneath her arms since her transformation allowing her to fly like an enormous bat. She loved the feel of the salty night air on her face, and she took a moment to appreciate the unearthly beauty of the island below her, bathed in moonlight. She passed over a serene forest glen with a large, elder cherry blossom standing at its center. Further inland she soared above a beautiful pagoda with the exterior elaborately adorned in frescoes of green stone. They depicted strange scenes of multi-armed gods and bold inhuman heroes engaged in battle against wicked animal-headed demons. The tiered tower rose four stories and was capped by an elaborately eaved roof that ended in a point. Thousands of wind chimes hung from the eaves and filled the air with an enchanting but arrthymic music. Still further on, beyond a crystalline garden, a three-level tower of white stone rose into the sky, pristine and regal. Tardaesha had seen enough. She wheeled on the thermals and winged her way back to her companions. “I’m sure the clearing and the pagoda are where the dragon houses his other two concubines,” Kelvin stated when Tardaesha had informed them of what she had seen.“Not bad accommodations…for whore houses,” Lemmy snorted.Dakota raised an eyebrow.“You have something against whores?” she asked.“Present company excluded,” the dwarf grumbled.“The clearing is closest,” Kelvin said. “Let’s get there while we still have the cover of darkness.”They travelled quickly through the night, moving like living (and unliving) shadows. The forest glen was even more lovely than it had looked from the air. Even at night, strange little brightly colored birds and insects nested and crawled upon the unfamiliar flora. Diminutive creatures could be seen cavorting amongst the many flowering plants,  twinkling like miniature stars in the verdant garden. As the companions stepped out into the clearing, a figure seemed to emerge from the tree at its center. The strangely beautiful woman was composed completely of blossoms, bark, and antler-like branches. The little sprite-like creatures flitted and flew all about her, whispering in her ears in high-pitched, musical voices. “My little friends tell me that they can sense evil upon you,” the woman said. “I am Sakura Yoshimune, and such as you are not welcome here.”“People keep telling us that,” Dakota sighed, “and I’ll tell you like I told your mer-whale friend, I’m welcome wherever I please.”“I can sense that there are those among you who have passed from mortal existence,” Sakura continued. “This is an abomination.”“We already kill fish-lady,” Grumblejack grinned, “now you no have so much competition for dragon’s attention.”Sakura’s face hardened. She touched a gorget that hung around her neck, and as her fingers depressed one its crimson gems, a blast of energy swept over the companions, knocking them all from their feet. Tardaesha quickly scrambled up and charged towards the kami woman.“You shouldn’t have done that,” she sneered as she raised her sword. “We were just going to kill you and move on, but now I’m going to burn this whole place to the ground!”She swung, slashing through Sakura’s bark-like skin. Red sap trickled slowly from the ragged wound. She tried to back away but Roger blocked her path. The big half-orc hacked at her, unholy power rippling through his blade. Desperate, Sakura stepped back towards a nearby tree…and simply vanished into it. “Clever girl,” Kelvin said.He turned in a slow circle, his finger tracing through the air. When he had turned one complete rotation, a ring of fire sprang up around the glen, the flames licking at the grass and overhanging branches of the trees. The sprits shrieked in fear and dismay, and flitted madly about, unable to escape the crushing heat. “Come out, my lady!” Kelvin called. “Come out or watch your home burn!”As the fire began to spread, Roger hefted his hell-spawned blade and began hacking at the trees. Sakura felt the pain of her children. She felt it down to her own roots. These monsters would pay for this transgression! Calling upon her own powerful magic, she caused time to come to a complete stop for everyone and everything in the vicinity except for her. She stepped out of her tree and into the clearing. As she felt the flow of time begin to speed up again, she hurled another spell at the living members of the trespassers: Kat, Lemmy and Roger. The three of them were overcome by waves of exhaustion, too weak even to raise their weapons. The vampires, however, were not affected by such trivial things. “Now, Dakota!” Kelvin commanded.Dak nodded and cast a spell. A thin stream of emerald light lanced from her finger to strike Sakura. There was no physical effect, but Sakura knew what had happened immediately: it was a dimensional anchor. She could no longer retreat nor travel through her trees. And just like that, her enemies converged upon her. She summoned her magic again, hurling a death curse at the massive ogre. He stumbled, but then kept coming. They reached her, surrounded her. She fought with all of her might, but physical combat was not her forte. She was quickly overcome. As she fell to the ground and breathed her last, she heard Kelvin’s final pronouncement.“Let it burn.”_________________________________________________________________The pagoda Tardaesha had spotted on her reconnaissance fly over was the next stop for the Knot. They assumed it was the home of Eiramanthus’s final consort, and they wanted to make certain that the dragon would have no one to call upon for assistance when they finally bearded him in his lair. There were no windows on the structure, and the only doors were on the lowest tier at ground level. “We have a problem,” Kelvin said as the companions gathered in front of the twin portals.“Other than the obvious one, where we are looking for a dragon after killing his three girlfriends?” Roger asked.“Yes,” Kelvin smirked. “Something more immediate. Technically speaking, this is a private dwelling.”“So?” Lemmy asked. “So,” Tardaesha replied, comprehension dawning on her, “Dakota, Kelvin and I cannot enter without an express invitation.”Lemmy rolled his eyes, and Kat just shook her head.“I told you no good would come of this,” she muttered. “Don’t worry,” Dakota smiled. “Just open those doors. I’ll get us an invite.”The doors opened upon what appeared to be a large, open barracks. Torchlight from wall sconces spilled out into the night as Roger threw the doors open wide. In the gloom beyond, some two dozen individuals were gathered, eating, talking, laughing, and even singing. As one, however, they fell silent, and all eyes turned towards the entrance. They were large creatures, male and female, and appeared heavy and solid, with chiseled, angular features that make them look almost like  statues brought to life.“Oreads,” Kelvin said. “Elemental half-breeds.”“I am Brarex Azerion,” a large male stepped forward dressed in leathers and carrying a wicked looking double-bladed sword. “I am Captain of the Guard of the Crystalline Garden. The Consort in Red warned us of your coming. You will depart this place immediately.”“You there,” Dakota, still standing outside the open doors, pointed at a woman carrying a stout glaive. “Why don’t you invite us in?”The woman stared at Dakota and her hypnotic crimson eyes.“Won’t you and your companions please come in?” she said flatly.“I thought you’d never ask,” Kelvin smiled.Kelvin proceeded to blanket the entire interior of the barracks in a storm of sleet and snow. There were sorcerers among the oreads, and they responded with a barrage of fireballs, but by then most of the companions had already rushed inside. The guardians were at a disadvantage, as it was easy for the individual members of the Knot to get among them and strike with surgical precision. An oread priest was finally able to dispel the sleet storm, but it was already too late. Most of their phalanx fighters were down, and when the sorcerers were exposed, Dakota shot them dead at point blank range. Katarina and Lemmy took out their handful of scouts while Roger and Tardaesha dispatched the last of the fighters, and then cornered Brarex himself. The captain fought like a man possessed until the bitter end.</blockquote>

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