Addressing Tink, the moonstone dragon responds: "If you mean his missing extremities, my dear, then Nubs has unfortunately done that to himself...you see, he has a nasty habit of biting his nails, which tends to get out of control. Poor thing can't help himself and stays up all night just gnawing away, despite the numerous restoration spells he has been the recipient of. Nubs is a big boy though and can make his own choices, but I must say that he was a much more efficient inventory clerk before he'd gotten into that batch of alertness compound. He's stashed it away somewhere I cannot find, but I assume he'll run out of it eventually. Can't beat his work ethic though, that little goblin can go for a tenday before he collapses!"

"Yeah... I don't have a healing potion... wait.  Is the person dead?  If it's dead a potion won't fix that.  Not much can fix dead..." Minsys responds.

The elven woman stirred a bit, but was not quite conscious. "I think she probably feels dead," says the dragon. It was then the dragon noticed Tabesha'l for the first time, standing nearby with the white bone staff in hand. "Oh, oh my...is that...what I think it is? You all aren't here for trinketry, are you?" She then nudged the elven woman a little harder: "Aerydesia!"

Minsys looked to his side and saw a goblin standing next to him with a musty pillow tied to his head and a slender metal tube hanging out of his mouth. The tube had a slight double-curve to it and a small bulbous chamber at the end. He held out a fingerless hand towards Minsys with his palm turned upward as if ready to accept payment.

Minsys misses what the dragon said as Nubs stands near him.  He stares at him not quote sure what to do.  He scratches his head and then sets down his pack, he rumages a bit and then pulls out the uncorked brown snake skin he had harvested.  He lays it over his outstretched forearm and waits to see his reaction.

The goblin studies the snakeskin for a moment and then looks at the dragon and nods. The dragon returns a nod and Nubs removes the pillow from his head and hands it and the whistle to Minsys. He then picks up the snakeskin and scurries off.

Tabesha'l stood dumbstruck for a long while - something quite unusual for her - before finally reacting to the scene:

" Grandmother ! Is she... can she be helped ? Do not stand there gaping like lummoxes ! The woman is clearly hurt... can't thee all see that, By The Manyfold Moon Curse ? DO SOMETHING already !" she looked about her and her eyes passed over Vaxis, then Tink, her facial complexion paling then flushing somewhat as she struggled to keep her bottled-up feelings and the jumble of thoughts assailing her in check: what had happened here ? Was her ancestor alive, and if so,  what sort of troubles had she gotten herself into ? And why was this majestic yet somewhat zany wyrmfolk so obsessed with sugarcoated faerie cake frosting, above all else ? 

Nothing seemed to make sense anymore... she looked upwards for comfort, but all she saw was the gaping grin of her evil familiar Arvi, who seemed to be relishing her distress. She made a mental note to summon a rat next time... or maybe even a fox or a rabbit: something furry, endearing and non-committal. She sighed finally, gathering her wits about her and recovering a certain modicum of calm.

" We... I'd really appreciate if we could help my ancestor. I assumed she was dead, I do admit..." she concluded lamely.

"She said you would come one day," commented the dragon to Tabesha'l, "right before she entered her magical stasis that has protected this place for so long." The dragon stepped aside revealing a small alcove at the back of the great hall. Six metal orbs situated around the inner circumference of the space hummed softly as purplish bolts of arcane energy raced around them. She then offered a more thorough explanation:

"Aerydesia found our nursery during one of her many excavations of this haunted forest...she struck a bargain with Mother Moonstone who offered her vast knowledge to assist with the research in exchange for your grandmother developing arcane technology that would protect this place from the white wyrm she feared would one day return."

"The device behind me was her masterpiece: when activated, it repels white dragons and prevents them from approaching closer than 10 miles of this place. It is fueled by a combination of arcane power and mortal life essence; the staff you are holding was meant to be that energy source. Your grandmother had infused it with half of her total magic and vitality, but it still needed stronger wards placed on it for the device to amplify."

"Viathirix struck before the staff was fully ready...he slew Mother Moonstone and it was clear the rest of us would soon share her fate, but then your grandmother leapt into the device, offering herself as the energy source in place of the staff...every remaining ounce of life and the Weave drained from her, but the device functioned properly and drove Viathirix away from here before he could kill the rest of us. Where he went, I do not know..."

"Your grandmother has been held in magical stasis all these years, sacrificing herself to fuel the device in order to provide our protective shield. The staff was always meant as it's primary energy source though...bringing it here has apparently released Aerydesia from her arcane prison..." Tabesha'l glanced at the staff...the small orb in the headpiece was now thrumming with the same purplish energy as the orbs in the alcove.

For anyone that notices, Connak goes a shade of pale at the thought of two Tabesha'l's out and about.  He doesn't like how everyone is just accepting of the myconid, the dragonlings and now this full on dragon.  He does his very best to intuit and watch for anything out of place.

As they plod along behind the myconid, he explains the tombstone: "Unlike many other dragon species, moonstones don't hoard riches of just any kind. They favor silver and electrum and when Mother Moonstone was slain by Viathirix, her duergar servants fashioned for her this memorial from the electrum coins in her hoard. You should probably take care not to wander too close though, the tombstone is valuable and thus a guardian has been placed there to prevent it's theft..."

At the name of 'Viathrix', Vaxis visually stiffens and his eyes go wide. He recovers quickly, but not fast enough to remain unnoticed by the group.

WYRMLING #5 - "You there, dragonkin...what is your bloodline? Also, do you eat feycake? Asking for a friend."

Vaxis relaxes a moment and straightens up in pride. "I am of the noble silver line, of Clan Xunti. I am never having this 'feycake', but I speak the dragon tongue. It is possible to parley."

"How very coincidental," continues the talkative wyrmling, "a white dragon killed our mother...Mother Moonstone, as we all called her. She found a discarded white wyrmling many years ago and raised it as her own, hoping she could teach it our ways and prevent it from giving in to its evil, animalistic nature. Viathirix was his name and after he passed into adulthood, he left the confines of our home, only to return years later having become the very thing Mother's training had been designed to prevent. He rampaged through our den and killed Mother Moonstone. Had it not been for the brave actions of an elven witch, all of us (she motions to her four siblings)...still egg-bound at the time, and our older sister would have been slain as well. It would seem that we share a common enemy then...be ye welcome in our home, friend of the Feywild." 

Vaxis looks even more distressed, and looks to where he believes the spirit is. He scowls in that direction, but remains silent on the matter.

" Grandmother ! Is she... can she be helped ? Do not stand there gaping like lummoxes ! The woman is clearly hurt... can't thee all see that, By The Manyfold Moon Curse ? DO SOMETHING already !" she looked about her and her eyes passed over Vaxis, then Tink, her facial complexion paling then flushing somewhat as she struggled to keep her bottled-up feelings and the jumble of thoughts assailing her in check: what had happened here ? Was her ancestor alive, and if so,  what sort of troubles had she gotten herself into ? And why was this majestic yet somewhat zany wyrmfolk so obsessed with sugarcoated faerie cake frosting, above all else ?

"Do not worry, friend Tabesha'l, I will provide any medical attention necessary."

(And now that I'm all caught up...)

Vaxis finally seems to come back to the world of the alert, and says, "Then I am afraid I have put you all in danger once again. I shall see myself out. Spirit, you shall join me. Torture ME as you see fit."

The whole situation has Tink quite surprised as well. She swallows and says carefully, "Rest easy friend Tabesh'al. I'm sure this isn't something that can isn't too harmful. Afterall if it was she would not be here as we see. Perhaps there is some sort of procedure or ritual that will help return her to the living. I can also assist in any healing..."

She trails off at Vaxis' sudden words. Tink blinks acouple of times before quickly moving to stop him, "Hold on a minute! You can't just leave after saying something like that. What is this danger you speak off. Is it a person? A curse? Something else? Is it something that can be studied? You can't tell a story part way you know!"

She then adds almost as and after thought, "Oh and pardon me if I am speaking out of turn, but I'm sure we would help you with what ever danger it is that plagues you. I mean it can't be worse that what we've been through in the past couple of days. As old Professor Namfoodle used to say, no pain no gain. Although if I'm being honest his classes were alot more pain than gain."

Tabesha'l had approached her grandmother's inanimate form with worry etched on her face and she was about to address the dragon to ask for assistance, when both Tink and Vaxis' offer to help placated her anxiety somewhat.

At the dragonborn's sudden announcement, she swiveled around just as surprised - and curious - as Tink seemed to be:

" Our... hum... gnomish friend here is right," she said, doing her best not to question the artificer girl's race-related delusions in a moment as critical as this, " What, praytell, wouldst thy reason be to so abruptly leave our presence ? Thou art needed - and appreciated - as much now as thou always were, Friend Dragonborn ! Do share thy concerns with us. Even I shall do my utmost not to interrupt thee... !" 

She smiles at the cleric encouragingly, although it is obvious she doesn't understand the reasons of his behaviour and is clearly baffled by it.

" If 'tis mine demonic help here that bothers thee, thou canst simply declare it and I shall endeavour to resolve this... according to the best of mine abilities, of course !" she offers, pointing towards Arvi, who hisses back at Vaxis defiantly.

Connak places himself in the way to prevent Vaxis from leaving.  "I'm afraid you're going to have to explain what danger you mean."

(OOC: Anyone desiring to take a closer look at the elven woman can make an INT (Medicine) check to see what they can surmise about her current state of health and wellness.)

Minsys still holds the two items outstretched in his hands.  He just looks back and forth at them unsure what to do.  Turning toward Vaxis he calls out, "what do ya mean?  You leaving just after we meet a dragon that don't want to murderize us right away?"

Turning back to the elf on the floor, he looks at the pillow in his hand and shrugs.  He moves forward and places the pillow under her head.  He looks up at the dragon and then the elf and then Tab.  "Hmm... we sure she can't just walk it off?"  He looks at the frowns, "No, yah, too much muscle loss.  Ya try soup?  I hear people eat soup when they don't feel well?"

Medicine check 4

From his brief visual inspection, Minsys determines that the elven woman is alive and unconscious, but nothing else concerning the state of her injuries (seen or unseen), possible causes and/or effective remedies.

While waiting for Vaxis' answer, Tink decides to take a closer look elf woman. 

Medicine 18 +  4 Guidance

(Bah wrong dice for guidance)
3 Guidance

Vaxis looks HIGHLY distressed. Having been stopped, Vaxis exhales annoyingly.

"Very well...It cannot be hidden any longer, as much as I would like to put it behind me. That white dragon that slew her kin....it resides within me."

He waits for that to set in, and continues. "When I was a boy, I opened a puzzle box that contained the soul gem that contained the spirit of Viathrix. The great beast was to become a Dracolich, and my ancestors fought to prevent this. My family was tasked to guard it, but the importance was never bequeathed to me. We had a festival every year where we opened similar puzzle boxes with prize inside. I thought the greatest treasure was inside our families keepsake. But demons played a foul trick on me, and guided me on opening the real box. Ever since that day....the foul dragon's infernal spirit follows me....taunts me...watches everything. I have done my best to contain the great wyrm's spirit, but the spirit has history here. I will not be an accessory to the wyrmling's destruction. In all of my wildest dreams....I never would have thought our paths would be mixed, and I am sorry. But I am a liability, and I must prevent any more damage."

He looks SUPER depressed, and tries to push past Connack.

Connak doesn't let the large dragonborn get past, if he can prevent it. 

"What!?  Did you eat the soul gem?  How is it inside you?"  After a pause to think a bit more, "All this time we've been looking for ways to defeat Vithirix and he's been watching us through you?  What happens if Viathirix finds you?  What happens if you die?"

Vaxis holds out his hands in a stop motion.

"The white dragon that terrorizes this land is not Viathrix, although whos to say if the Great Beast's influence is not present there....An no, I did not eat it....as soon as I touched it, te spirit bound to me....it is seeking a new body, and as long as I bear it's torment and do not give it one, it is contained. But...that lasts as long as my sanity, I'm afraid. If I die...I...do not know.It has been bound to me since I was a child, I do not know what will happen."

Connak shrugs, getting out of Vaxis's way.  "Well, Viathirix was already here and knows he was repulsed from here.  There's nothing he can learn from you being here now.  Besides Tabesha'ls grandmother, the architect of his banishment from this lair, potentially returning...  Which might vex him.  So what of it?"

"Besides, we have another white dragon to deal with and that won't change by you leaving here."