Hello, Everyone!
Last time, we were in Dynatos Perres' office, talking about dragons. Our heroes told him the conversation they'd overheard during their supper in 'Gastrognome', and he told them about the Metallic dragons hiding around Eastern Erathos (one of which turned out to be non other than Rabajorhax, whom the trio had previously met). Mr. Perres was quite worried about the White Queen who turned out to be an Ancient White dragon and could destroy the land if she got involved in the current situation. Then, Agatha mentioned the Green dragon invading the land from the South, and Mr. Perres looked really miserable XD
And just as he was about to probably explain how the whole situation wasn't as bad as it looked, a portal opened in the air and the trio's friend Tesaya collapsed through, covered in blood.
Dynatos Perres’ office was suddenly full of ruckus. The moment Tesaya appeared, the canaries started thrashing in their cage, squealing like crazy. Bruno and Aurum were fussing around the fallen Tesaya, working their healing magic, and Mary was holding the elf's head on her lap, stroking her bloody hair and whispering reassurances despite her own horror.
“Quiet, you!” Dynatos Perres snapped and the canaries suddenly calmed down, their panicked peeping going down to an occasional chirp.
Tesaya's injuries were severe. She'd been almost dead when she came through the portal. A plethora of arrows--elven arrows--were sticking from her back. A gnarly wound went through her stomach. And, to Mary’s horror, her right arm was missing all the way to her shoulder.
“You’re going to be alright,” she tried to reassure her, as well as her own self. “Bruno and Aurum have got you. You’re alright.”
“They caught me,” Tesaya repeated between her groans of pain. “Tiriel holds the whole Order now… She said that Falka’s mistake should be rectified, they… they want to free the monster and use it… She told them to start right away. I need to…”
“Shhh, it’s ok,” Mary said, pushing lightly against the woman’s strain.
Finally, Bruno managed to close Tesaya’s wounds. He wiped off his forehead and sagged on the floor, utterly spent. The woman's body relaxed and she started breathing more deeply.
Mary bit her lip. “Will you tell me about the Order now?” she asked. “After you’ve practically been exiled and they’d almost killed you? Or are you still forbidden?” She paused, realising how disgruntled her voice sounded but didn't try to change it. Maybe, if Tesaya hadn't hidden the truth, she'd have been able to help.
"The Order's main task was to maintain and hide the prison," Tesaya said, "and to supply the ritual with souls."
"Ritual? Prison? Souls?!"
Tesaya shuffled off of Mary's lap and leaned on the desk. She was still looking exhausted but the colour was slowly returning to her face.
"Fourty-eight years ago, beyond the Teeth, a dragon started amassing an army, planning to attack Eastern Erathos," she explained. "Men and elves, together--your grandmother Falka included--fought and managed to imprison it. But for the prison to remain strong, it had to be fed souls." Seeing Mary's horrified expression, she quickly added: "Mostly goblin and orc souls, of course."
The clarification didn't make things any better. The only goblins Mary knew were little Kiyra and her tribe, and she shivered at the thought of their souls being used to supply a monstrous ritual.
But it explained a lot. The cages that the dark-cloaked elves were transporting back and forth. The reason the whole affair 48 years ago got covered up. The secrecy around Falka's name. And…
"Oh!" Mary exclaimed. "Oooh!"
She rummaged inside of her bag and took out Dorina Dwendel's map. She spread it on the ground and pointed at the symbol of a dragon, drawn in the middle of the Swamp of Agony. As usual, it stuck out as a sore thumb because of the different ink it'd been drawn with.
"Is that it? Is that the place?" she asked.
Tesaya craned her neck to see it, and nodded.
Mary thought she knew who drew that now, and she told the others. The elven artist who's made the map had said that he didn't have anything to do with it. He had even yelled at them for scribbling on his work. And then, Dorina Dwendel had said that she hadn't drawn it either, that it was already there when the artist gave her the map. But she had cried when she said that, and by now, they knew what that meant.
If Sebastian Kräut--Dorina's partner--was eaten by the Hydra, nobody would remember him having the map first. And nobody would know that he'd marked it.
Mary stole a glance at Aurum. He'd cried, too, when he couldn't remember Lanurey. She felt a prick in her heart. Sebastian Kräut--like Lanurey--used to be a real person, not just a name in a journal. He used to draw. He had a friend in Dorina and she'd cared about him. He probably used to have a family, too, and he used to love and be loved. And he was dead now, because of that monster.
So many people were.
"So, there's yet another dragon in that swamp,” Agatha grumbled.
“Do we know the colour?" Mary said.
Tesaya didn't answer. She had dropped her head on her chest and was breathing rhythmically.
“We know that there’s an almost constant storm there,” Bruno said instead, “spanning for miles and miles in every direction.”
“It hasn't always been like that,” Dynatos Perres stepped in. “It just used to be flatlands. The storm started several decades ago and slowly transformed the area into the swamp we know today.”
“Let me guess, ‘several’ decades means ‘almost five’,” Mary said. “Do we know of some kind of a dragon who can make storms?”
“Maybe the storm IS the prison,” Aurum said. “Designed specificly to keep that dragon in? Like, what if it’s Red?”
Reds were the fiery ones. It made a lot of sense to have a Red dragon subdued by keeping the land around it wet and stormy.
“I wonder what the other three symbols drawn by Sebastian Kräut mean…” Mary said, examining the map for what seemed like a hundredth time.
Dynatos Perres leaned in and she showed him the three dots.
“That one is where Diohastos used to live,” he said, pointing at the dot on the Crooked Mountain.
Did that mean that where even more dragons where the other two dots were?
Ehat now? Even MORE dragons? Are you kidding me? Our DM is taking out the BIG guns! And poor Tesaya, why did the elves have to do that to her? What are our friends going to do now?
Let's find out next time!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossary and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.