Looking the dragon in her good eye, she seems a little stunned, and not just from her injuries. It's as if something vital has been taken from her, or forcibly removed, leaving a vacant hole in her very being. You are not sure if the dragon is listening or paying any attention to you, but after a brief pause, she answers in draconic with a strained voice that's almost as soft as a whisper.
"I care not for elves and other weak folk like you, and I would eat a thousand of your kind, but I was tricked.... I would not have left my home in the north... he lied to me and now I am the one who lies dying... I hope his soul burns in all nine hells, one at at time for all eternity."
Silver is unphased by Duskbringer's opening - of course she would feel superior to them. In many ways she was. And yet she was still laying here, about to die. Silver had been taught about the justifiable pride of dragons, but even dragons were not immortal. She places a hand on the cold, dark scales of Duskbringer's face, not unkindly.
<"Who is he? What did he promise you? And what did he want in return?">
Chrys forces a smile out. "Ya fought a dragon an' lived ta tell the tale, jus' like the heroes o' old. Duskbringer got ya down, but we got her down too. Now... ya just take it easy an' rest. Ya done more than enough, an' I'm gonna be right here ta protect ya,"she promises, helping Vesper sit up with a gentleness that belies her innate strength. She looks over to Nym, her brow knit with worry. "Can ya do anythin' fer her wounds? I ain't got much more healin' left in me," she murmurs in a lower voice, meant not to carry to Vesper's ears, her face brimming with worry.
"It matters not, but I will tell you anyway. His name is Valarken... spirit of the former Grand Duke of the cite called Baldur's Gate. He enlisted my help to help him build and lead an army so that he could reclaim his rightful place as ruler of the city, and deliver revenge on those who ousted him. I, of course, would gain immeasurable wealth."
"We began by coming here to destroy this place and its pitiful inhabitants, in retaliation for the time when their kin had once betrayed Valarken after he allied himself with a band of shape changers in the ruined werewolf city of Vehlarr."
Chrys
Vesper listens, still with tears in her eyes, and then responds. "I remember running up to this room... then she grabbed me andbegan to fly away with me in her mouth... I was so scared, I thought I was going to die. I was sure that it was my end... And then... then suddenly I was falling. I don't know what happened or why she let me go, but I remember being free of her as well both fell back down... and then... "
"I must have hit the ground pretty hard, huh? That must have been how I broke my arm."
She then looks around the room and says with concern,
"Is she dead? Where are the others? Are Kess and Lumen ok?"
<"A dragon must have a hoard. I understand. And yet you say he tricked you? It is difficult to believe. Do you know, where will he go next? Will he continue his campaign?">
“The irony is laid bare, for in the end, it seems that I am the one who was betrayed. He promised me an army of orcs who would come swear allegiance to me. And yet none came.”
”What he does next is beyond my interest, for it is clear that my time in this world will end very soon. As far as I care, he and the rest of you can rot here in this place.”
The dragon then looks towards Kess and speaks in the common tongue in a raspy, strained voice.
“You have won this battle; you may boast that you ended the life of the mighty Duskbringer, but it does not make you great, elf. Nor does it make you better than me. It will not bring back your friend who’s body I bit into. It is but mere chance that she is not lying here broken on these rocks instead of me.”
”And it will not ease the endless torment and pain of the other, who will forever be scarred by the burns and memory of having her entire body doused in my acid. She will suffer for whatever short years she has left, and it will be you who has to listen to her tears.”
Kess doesn't even wait for the dragon to finish boasting; midway through Duskbringer's tirade, she slips Moonpetal right into her scaly gut, almost to the hilt, allowing the dragon one final howl of agony as she twists the sword and holds it in place, her anger driving her to lean forward and look the dying dragon in her one good eye to protract the pain in that one instance of a few second; a final, fitting justice. A sword of Ravensglade being the one to slay the foul Duskbringer.
"And thus," Kess hisses in Elvish, looking the dying wyrm in the eye, unflinchingly. "It is only just and ironic that you will die knowing that it was a band of tiny, supposedly insignificant mortals who did it to you. When I am ancient, you won't even be a memory. And my friends will be parents and grandparents of many generations. You lose, monster."
With that final taunt, tears rimming her eyes from emotion, Kess pulls Moonpetal out and allows death to finally take Duskbringer, dragon blood spilling everywhere... and she begins to sob, clearly overwhelmed by the sudden and great momentous significance of the day's events.
"They're good," Chrys says soothingly. "Kess an' Lumen are jus' fine. They're out there right now wit' Silver, takin' care o' that Beast fer us. She's met her end, she has, an' they'll make sure she can't come back an' hurt ya or anyone else no more." Sitting back on her heels a bit, Chrys frowns. "We got that Will-O-Tha-Wisp away from her at the end, but I still don't like it. Ain't normal, that a dragon could be infected like that, an' I ain't sure Duskbringer's end is gonna really be the end o' all this." She looks around the room, her eyes focusing on the dead kobold. "I ain't sure them kobolds left in here know any more 'bout it, so we can only hope the others can git ta the bottom o' this."
Once Vesper's wounds have been bound enough to move, Chrys helps her up, supporting her as they move towards the back of the keep to rejoin the others.
Chrys and Nym help Vesper up and lead her down the stairs and out of the front door of the keep. When they turn the corner around the side of the building and catch sight of Kess, Lumen and Silver next to the body of the defeated dragon, the half-elf girl who has so often been stoic, practical and devoid of much outward emotion, breaks down and begins sobbing uncontrollably.
“You all… saved me! You saved my life! I was certain that I was dead… I could have been… but you… Oh Kess…!”
Still crying, she hobbles over to Kess and falls into a long, desperate, emotional embrace with her friend.
Clearly the dragon had had enough of talking. Her speech to Kess must have been to drive her into finishing things. And it worked. Silver steps back as Duskbringer's body shudders one last time, then falls still.
As Chrysoberyl and Vesper round the corner onto the scene, Silver feels a rush of relief. Vesper was alive. Everyone still lived. Looking down at Duskbringer's remains she mutters a quick prayer in Draconic.<"Null guide you to your final rest."> She then takes a seat on a nearby low wall and patiently waits, giving the rest of the group time to recover, to reconnect.
Kess just stands there, hugging Vesper, allowing Moonpetal and her scimitar to drop unceremoniously to the ground from her hands. Tears are freely being shed as the two women sob together.
Chrys makes her way over to Silver's side, settling next to the firbolg. She knows they likely cut an odd pair, one towering like a tree, the other squat like a rock, but in the aftermath of a dragon-slaying, it really doesn't seem to matter that much. "Thanks fer the help there," she says, nodding at the corpse. "I figured th' three o' ya had it covered, but I couldn't leave Vesper like that. Them two, though, they're like peas in a pod," she adds, nodding her chin at Kess and Vesper. "Best give 'em some space. Though... I expect Vesper's gonna put her adventurin' days behind her soon. She was jus' a lil' girl lookin' for new experiences when she joined up wit' us," she explains to Silver, "Tryin' ta act cool as a cucumber an' older than she really was, if ya get my meanin'. She hadn't ev'n had a stiff drink 'fore we first met in Yartar, I reckon! But still... I don't think this was the sort o' adventure she was searchin' for. I wouldn't blame her," she adds tiredly, rubbing her eyes. "Lookin' death in the face, an' comin' back from it... changes a person. We ain't all cut out fer the adventurin' life."
She looks up at Silver. "Can ye tell me what happened here? Did Duskbringer say anythin' 'bout why she chose this place ta rampage?"
Lumen’s sword remained poised at the dragon’s neck during the interrogation. It was odd to be so near the rumbling, grating voice of such a large beast. His musical, sonic mind filed plenty away. When Kess made her defiant conclusion, he also slipped the point of his sword in, stepping away from the flow of blood. Hmm, people find uses for dragon’s blood, he thinks. He grabs an empty canteen and collects the flow.
He then darts up when Vesper appears, and greets her with a broken smile. He’s speechless, for once. Amazed they weren’t all dead, all alive in fact, and that they were dragonslayers. He thanks Silver for helping them. He checks in with each of the Pie Pals over the course of this recovery period, offering a gentle grumbling observation or kind word. Giving people space when they need it.
Remembering they needed to retrieve the kids and the guide and reunite them with their mother. That they needed to sweep the town for Kobold surprises. That they still hadn’t made it back to drop off the dryad’s hair to their magic shop owner friend. Not to mention the hag and the rot in the forest. And if Silver shares anything she might have learned from the dragon, what the deal was with the will o wisp and the dragon’s motivation. He has more of his ballad to write.
But while this happens, he returns to the dragon corpse and begins scoping out how he might be able to harvest scales, horns, claws, teeth, acid, etc.
Silver listens to Chrys with interest. To hear more about this unusual group, who they were before she met them. The diplomat in her takes on board the information - They met in Yartar; Vesper is young and inexperienced; Vesper and Kessdara are extremely close; the group, especially Chrysoberyl, consider themselves adventurers. How exciting!
"Kessdara allowed me a moment to speak with the dragon. She showed great restraint. I do have information to pass on but..." She looks out as Kess and Vesper hold each other and cry at the relief of living. "Perhaps now is not the time.
I understand Vesper's circumstance," she says to Chrys. "I am much older, but before I left the Vale I had little experience of the true dangers of the world. If I came that close to death... I am not sure I would do."
"Well... if'n there's one thing, it shows ya who ya are,"Chrys says. She thumbs her chest. "I ain't told ya much 'bout myself, huh? I used ta be a guard in Twilight Tor... dwarven settlement in the mountains. Real tourist attraction, it is. We're known for the view o' the night sky up there. It's still my home, an' I still love it. An' I miss my pet goat." She chuckles, fold her arms together and leaning back slightly, her eyes crinkling with what are obviously good memories. "I was s'pposed ta be a baker, take o'er for me ma. But I had th' itch in me. Always was a lil' too violent for jus' kneadin' dough, so I joined up with the guards. An' I left fer Yartar when life at the Tor got a lil' bit too small fer me big plans."
She nods at the others. "Not sure who came up with it first, but I'm the one who insisted on namin' us the Pie Pals. 'Cause we all met over sharin' some pie at the festival there. We lost a lot o' our original number there, though. Silver -- he shared yer name, see? -- he was a dragonborn, an' a good friend o' mine. And his student, our lil' friend Krackle the kobold with the big heart, who left us ta find Silver. Arine, a halflin' girl who I fear went the wrong way when she left us. An' Vesper an' Lumen were there too. We met up with Kess a lil' later, and rescued Nym from a hag durin' one o' our adventures." Chrys huffs. "Ain't many o' the original pie-eatin' pals left... jus' the four o' us. Maybe if Vesper decides if she wants ta leave, we can have a lil' talk 'bout renamin' our company here. It's full o' good memories, I gotta say... but ya know, we can't keep marinatin' ourselves in the past. Sometimes, ya gotta make room for new memories, an' new friends, too." She grins at Silver. "An' new beginnin's, sometimes they need new names."
"An interesting thought,' muses Silver. "My entire life has been about the past, and the expectations it carries. For 230 years now I have been the Silver One, Silver Scale, Snow Fur. Many names, all of which refer to my... unusual ancestry. There is a longer story, but my part in it is as a descendant of descendants, all of whom have spoken for our tribe with other tribes, with giants, with humans. What you would call 'diplomacy'. But there was an incident where I... overstepped our ancient laws. So I left."
She sighs, watching Lumen harvest parts from Duskbringer's corpse. It reminded her of the butchery of animals that presented themselves at camp, dying of age, or illness, or unhealed wounds. Those were the nights they shared meat, and in the days to follow clothes would be made or mended, new tools made of bone or horn, and any left over may be used for decoration, like her own earrings. It felt strange to watch the same process take place to the body of a dragon, creatures she had been taught were deserving of the greatest respect. But all things were part of the great balance, of life and death, and Duskbringer no longer had need of her body.
"I don't believe that I would be welcome there again, should I return. I suspect that part of my life is now ended. Perhaps I am also in need of a new name. I shall dwell on it as I travel. Though I am not sure where to go... Where will you and the Pie Pals go now?"
Lumen looks up at Silver. "It's funny. I'm sure your tribe and my tribe have little in common, but we left for similar reasons. I'd love to hear your story one day."
As Silver and Chyrs sit agains the wall talking and watching Kess offer comfort to her dear friend, and Lumen tries to harvest whatever bits of the dragon he can manage, you realize two things: One, it's getting late; by now, the sun has dipped below the horizon and the air is starting to cool off a bit, which is accentuated by the fine spray of light mist from the nearby waterfall.
And two, you're all exhausted. It's been a very long day, walking to the base of the butte this morning, ascending the Sky's Ascend, which required quite a bit of effort and ingenuity to fix and cross the broken bridges, then meeting up with Silver at the top, fending off a small, but pesky kobold assault, exploring the keep with Fivin, locating the two children, Faen and Syllin and bringing them all the way back down the precarious Sky's Ascend, then turning right back around to go back up to the keep, where you...
SLEW A DRAGON!
And aside from the battle itself, there was the gut wrenching shock of watching Vesper nearly get killed by the vile Duskbringer, and the aftermath of intense emotion when you realized that she actually survived the brutal attack, combined with the release from knowing that you have actually completed this task that you've been working towards for many long and difficult days since you first saw Aelar and Lia back at Dauric's tree.
As the waves of weariness and fatigue wash over you, and you watch Vesper continue to sob, although lightly now as she has sat down to rest, Chrys, Lumen and Kess especially can't help but wonder if this is indeed the end of the adventuring road for the young half elf with one blue eye and one violet colored eye.
As Chyrs described so accurately to Silver, she was but a naive, but bright eyed and enthusiastic girl, barely a women when she arrived in Yartar, who could barely hold her drink without getting tipsy. Having known Kess even longer, she easily looked to both Kess and Chyrs for guidance, being led towards a life on the road only by a desire to discover how to better control her wild magic powers so that she wouldn't hurt the ones she loved. Quite skilled and confident, Vesper actually became Arcane Champion at the magic competition at the Shieldmeet Festival on that vey first day in Yartar.
In the weeks followed, as your companion every single day, through all of the adventures and trials the four of you have faced together, young Vesper has been a faithful and capable party member. Often quiet, only to interject at the most opportune time, especially when some decision needed to be made, Vesper certainly held her own, whether it was lobbing fire bolts at countless enemies, taking a firm hand with poor Krackle during the whole episode with the mask, and even sustaining injuries in battle, along with the rest of you.
A fair and loving woman, it was obvious that she was genuinely driven on this quest by the care and desire to rescue the two children, and she marched right into battle with Duskbringer alongside with the rest of you, fearless and resolute.
However, watching her now, it is clear to you that Vesper's spirit has been broken by the dragon, along with her body. And although her physical wounds can be healed quickly by magic, you realize that it will take some time for her emotional wounds to heal. You're confident that they will, but you know that it will be a much longer process before she is the same happy, confident person with the bright eyes and the spring in her step that you once knew.
At any rate, night fall is coming and you are all famished and starving.
Chrys looks up at the sky, then back at the group. "We gotta make camp. I ain't keen on stayin' in this keep, but we ain't goin' nowhere when we're this tuckered out,"she admits. "Let's set up our tents an' a watch. If y'all need some food, I got rations enough ta cover us fer the night. We'll be better off fresh in the mornin' if ya ask me."
Checking her pack, she draws out a bag of caltrops. "Still got these 'round, in case we wanna rely on more 'n jus' our eyes ta keep out the stray kobolds. Though I'm thinkin', after we offed their dragon an' their mage, they ain't gonna risk tusslin' with us. I kin take one o' the later watches, I got the eyes fer it."
As she slams her pack down and roots through it for her equipment, her hand clinks against a bottle. Holding up the hag's "gift," Chrys shakes her head, talking mostly to herself. "I jus' can't do it. I got sympathy, all right, but I jus' can't be in league wit' a creature like that. It feels wrong." Casting about the group, she spots Lumen, and looks down at the potion.
"Oi!"she calls out to the half-orc. "I got somethin' here fer ya!" She holds out the potions. "Seein' ya wavin' that sword around, I think ye kin make better use o' this thing than I can. I don't need it no more,"she says confidently, passing it over.
Persuasion: 16
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
Silver
Looking the dragon in her good eye, she seems a little stunned, and not just from her injuries. It's as if something vital has been taken from her, or forcibly removed, leaving a vacant hole in her very being. You are not sure if the dragon is listening or paying any attention to you, but after a brief pause, she answers in draconic with a strained voice that's almost as soft as a whisper.
"I care not for elves and other weak folk like you, and I would eat a thousand of your kind, but I was tricked.... I would not have left my home in the north... he lied to me and now I am the one who lies dying... I hope his soul burns in all nine hells, one at at time for all eternity."
Silver is unphased by Duskbringer's opening - of course she would feel superior to them. In many ways she was. And yet she was still laying here, about to die. Silver had been taught about the justifiable pride of dragons, but even dragons were not immortal. She places a hand on the cold, dark scales of Duskbringer's face, not unkindly.
<"Who is he? What did he promise you? And what did he want in return?">
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
Chrys forces a smile out. "Ya fought a dragon an' lived ta tell the tale, jus' like the heroes o' old. Duskbringer got ya down, but we got her down too. Now... ya just take it easy an' rest. Ya done more than enough, an' I'm gonna be right here ta protect ya," she promises, helping Vesper sit up with a gentleness that belies her innate strength. She looks over to Nym, her brow knit with worry. "Can ya do anythin' fer her wounds? I ain't got much more healin' left in me," she murmurs in a lower voice, meant not to carry to Vesper's ears, her face brimming with worry.
Silver
"It matters not, but I will tell you anyway. His name is Valarken... spirit of the former Grand Duke of the cite called Baldur's Gate. He enlisted my help to help him build and lead an army so that he could reclaim his rightful place as ruler of the city, and deliver revenge on those who ousted him. I, of course, would gain immeasurable wealth."
"We began by coming here to destroy this place and its pitiful inhabitants, in retaliation for the time when their kin had once betrayed Valarken after he allied himself with a band of shape changers in the ruined werewolf city of Vehlarr."
Chrys
Vesper listens, still with tears in her eyes, and then responds. "I remember running up to this room... then she grabbed me and began to fly away with me in her mouth... I was so scared, I thought I was going to die. I was sure that it was my end... And then... then suddenly I was falling. I don't know what happened or why she let me go, but I remember being free of her as well both fell back down... and then... "
"I must have hit the ground pretty hard, huh? That must have been how I broke my arm."
She then looks around the room and says with concern,
"Is she dead? Where are the others? Are Kess and Lumen ok?"
Silver nods, and strokes the scales a little.
<"A dragon must have a hoard. I understand. And yet you say he tricked you? It is difficult to believe. Do you know, where will he go next? Will he continue his campaign?">
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
Silver
“The irony is laid bare, for in the end, it seems that I am the one who was betrayed. He promised me an army of orcs who would come swear allegiance to me. And yet none came.”
”What he does next is beyond my interest, for it is clear that my time in this world will end very soon. As far as I care, he and the rest of you can rot here in this place.”
The dragon then looks towards Kess and speaks in the common tongue in a raspy, strained voice.
“You have won this battle; you may boast that you ended the life of the mighty Duskbringer, but it does not make you great, elf. Nor does it make you better than me. It will not bring back your friend who’s body I bit into. It is but mere chance that she is not lying here broken on these rocks instead of me.”
”And it will not ease the endless torment and pain of the other, who will forever be scarred by the burns and memory of having her entire body doused in my acid. She will suffer for whatever short years she has left, and it will be you who has to listen to her tears.”
Kess doesn't even wait for the dragon to finish boasting; midway through Duskbringer's tirade, she slips Moonpetal right into her scaly gut, almost to the hilt, allowing the dragon one final howl of agony as she twists the sword and holds it in place, her anger driving her to lean forward and look the dying dragon in her one good eye to protract the pain in that one instance of a few second; a final, fitting justice. A sword of Ravensglade being the one to slay the foul Duskbringer.
"And thus," Kess hisses in Elvish, looking the dying wyrm in the eye, unflinchingly. "It is only just and ironic that you will die knowing that it was a band of tiny, supposedly insignificant mortals who did it to you. When I am ancient, you won't even be a memory. And my friends will be parents and grandparents of many generations. You lose, monster."
With that final taunt, tears rimming her eyes from emotion, Kess pulls Moonpetal out and allows death to finally take Duskbringer, dragon blood spilling everywhere... and she begins to sob, clearly overwhelmed by the sudden and great momentous significance of the day's events.
"They're good," Chrys says soothingly. "Kess an' Lumen are jus' fine. They're out there right now wit' Silver, takin' care o' that Beast fer us. She's met her end, she has, an' they'll make sure she can't come back an' hurt ya or anyone else no more." Sitting back on her heels a bit, Chrys frowns. "We got that Will-O-Tha-Wisp away from her at the end, but I still don't like it. Ain't normal, that a dragon could be infected like that, an' I ain't sure Duskbringer's end is gonna really be the end o' all this." She looks around the room, her eyes focusing on the dead kobold. "I ain't sure them kobolds left in here know any more 'bout it, so we can only hope the others can git ta the bottom o' this."
Once Vesper's wounds have been bound enough to move, Chrys helps her up, supporting her as they move towards the back of the keep to rejoin the others.
Chrys and Nym help Vesper up and lead her down the stairs and out of the front door of the keep. When they turn the corner around the side of the building and catch sight of Kess, Lumen and Silver next to the body of the defeated dragon, the half-elf girl who has so often been stoic, practical and devoid of much outward emotion, breaks down and begins sobbing uncontrollably.
“You all… saved me! You saved my life! I was certain that I was dead… I could have been… but you… Oh Kess…!”
Still crying, she hobbles over to Kess and falls into a long, desperate, emotional embrace with her friend.
Clearly the dragon had had enough of talking. Her speech to Kess must have been to drive her into finishing things. And it worked. Silver steps back as Duskbringer's body shudders one last time, then falls still.
As Chrysoberyl and Vesper round the corner onto the scene, Silver feels a rush of relief. Vesper was alive. Everyone still lived. Looking down at Duskbringer's remains she mutters a quick prayer in Draconic. <"Null guide you to your final rest."> She then takes a seat on a nearby low wall and patiently waits, giving the rest of the group time to recover, to reconnect.
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
Kess just stands there, hugging Vesper, allowing Moonpetal and her scimitar to drop unceremoniously to the ground from her hands. Tears are freely being shed as the two women sob together.
"I'm so glad you're alive..."
Chrys makes her way over to Silver's side, settling next to the firbolg. She knows they likely cut an odd pair, one towering like a tree, the other squat like a rock, but in the aftermath of a dragon-slaying, it really doesn't seem to matter that much. "Thanks fer the help there," she says, nodding at the corpse. "I figured th' three o' ya had it covered, but I couldn't leave Vesper like that. Them two, though, they're like peas in a pod," she adds, nodding her chin at Kess and Vesper. "Best give 'em some space. Though... I expect Vesper's gonna put her adventurin' days behind her soon. She was jus' a lil' girl lookin' for new experiences when she joined up wit' us," she explains to Silver, "Tryin' ta act cool as a cucumber an' older than she really was, if ya get my meanin'. She hadn't ev'n had a stiff drink 'fore we first met in Yartar, I reckon! But still... I don't think this was the sort o' adventure she was searchin' for. I wouldn't blame her," she adds tiredly, rubbing her eyes. "Lookin' death in the face, an' comin' back from it... changes a person. We ain't all cut out fer the adventurin' life."
She looks up at Silver. "Can ye tell me what happened here? Did Duskbringer say anythin' 'bout why she chose this place ta rampage?"
Lumen’s sword remained poised at the dragon’s neck during the interrogation. It was odd to be so near the rumbling, grating voice of such a large beast. His musical, sonic mind filed plenty away. When Kess made her defiant conclusion, he also slipped the point of his sword in, stepping away from the flow of blood. Hmm, people find uses for dragon’s blood, he thinks. He grabs an empty canteen and collects the flow.
He then darts up when Vesper appears, and greets her with a broken smile. He’s speechless, for once. Amazed they weren’t all dead, all alive in fact, and that they were dragonslayers. He thanks Silver for helping them. He checks in with each of the Pie Pals over the course of this recovery period, offering a gentle grumbling observation or kind word. Giving people space when they need it.
Remembering they needed to retrieve the kids and the guide and reunite them with their mother. That they needed to sweep the town for Kobold surprises. That they still hadn’t made it back to drop off the dryad’s hair to their magic shop owner friend. Not to mention the hag and the rot in the forest. And if Silver shares anything she might have learned from the dragon, what the deal was with the will o wisp and the dragon’s motivation. He has more of his ballad to write.
But while this happens, he returns to the dragon corpse and begins scoping out how he might be able to harvest scales, horns, claws, teeth, acid, etc.
Silver listens to Chrys with interest. To hear more about this unusual group, who they were before she met them. The diplomat in her takes on board the information - They met in Yartar; Vesper is young and inexperienced; Vesper and Kessdara are extremely close; the group, especially Chrysoberyl, consider themselves adventurers. How exciting!
"Kessdara allowed me a moment to speak with the dragon. She showed great restraint. I do have information to pass on but..." She looks out as Kess and Vesper hold each other and cry at the relief of living. "Perhaps now is not the time.
I understand Vesper's circumstance," she says to Chrys. "I am much older, but before I left the Vale I had little experience of the true dangers of the world. If I came that close to death... I am not sure I would do."
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
"Well... if'n there's one thing, it shows ya who ya are," Chrys says. She thumbs her chest. "I ain't told ya much 'bout myself, huh? I used ta be a guard in Twilight Tor... dwarven settlement in the mountains. Real tourist attraction, it is. We're known for the view o' the night sky up there. It's still my home, an' I still love it. An' I miss my pet goat." She chuckles, fold her arms together and leaning back slightly, her eyes crinkling with what are obviously good memories. "I was s'pposed ta be a baker, take o'er for me ma. But I had th' itch in me. Always was a lil' too violent for jus' kneadin' dough, so I joined up with the guards. An' I left fer Yartar when life at the Tor got a lil' bit too small fer me big plans."
She nods at the others. "Not sure who came up with it first, but I'm the one who insisted on namin' us the Pie Pals. 'Cause we all met over sharin' some pie at the festival there. We lost a lot o' our original number there, though. Silver -- he shared yer name, see? -- he was a dragonborn, an' a good friend o' mine. And his student, our lil' friend Krackle the kobold with the big heart, who left us ta find Silver. Arine, a halflin' girl who I fear went the wrong way when she left us. An' Vesper an' Lumen were there too. We met up with Kess a lil' later, and rescued Nym from a hag durin' one o' our adventures." Chrys huffs. "Ain't many o' the original pie-eatin' pals left... jus' the four o' us. Maybe if Vesper decides if she wants ta leave, we can have a lil' talk 'bout renamin' our company here. It's full o' good memories, I gotta say... but ya know, we can't keep marinatin' ourselves in the past. Sometimes, ya gotta make room for new memories, an' new friends, too." She grins at Silver. "An' new beginnin's, sometimes they need new names."
"An interesting thought,' muses Silver. "My entire life has been about the past, and the expectations it carries. For 230 years now I have been the Silver One, Silver Scale, Snow Fur. Many names, all of which refer to my... unusual ancestry. There is a longer story, but my part in it is as a descendant of descendants, all of whom have spoken for our tribe with other tribes, with giants, with humans. What you would call 'diplomacy'. But there was an incident where I... overstepped our ancient laws. So I left."
She sighs, watching Lumen harvest parts from Duskbringer's corpse. It reminded her of the butchery of animals that presented themselves at camp, dying of age, or illness, or unhealed wounds. Those were the nights they shared meat, and in the days to follow clothes would be made or mended, new tools made of bone or horn, and any left over may be used for decoration, like her own earrings. It felt strange to watch the same process take place to the body of a dragon, creatures she had been taught were deserving of the greatest respect. But all things were part of the great balance, of life and death, and Duskbringer no longer had need of her body.
"I don't believe that I would be welcome there again, should I return. I suspect that part of my life is now ended. Perhaps I am also in need of a new name. I shall dwell on it as I travel. Though I am not sure where to go... Where will you and the Pie Pals go now?"
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
Lumen looks up at Silver. "It's funny. I'm sure your tribe and my tribe have little in common, but we left for similar reasons. I'd love to hear your story one day."
As Silver and Chyrs sit agains the wall talking and watching Kess offer comfort to her dear friend, and Lumen tries to harvest whatever bits of the dragon he can manage, you realize two things: One, it's getting late; by now, the sun has dipped below the horizon and the air is starting to cool off a bit, which is accentuated by the fine spray of light mist from the nearby waterfall.
And two, you're all exhausted. It's been a very long day, walking to the base of the butte this morning, ascending the Sky's Ascend, which required quite a bit of effort and ingenuity to fix and cross the broken bridges, then meeting up with Silver at the top, fending off a small, but pesky kobold assault, exploring the keep with Fivin, locating the two children, Faen and Syllin and bringing them all the way back down the precarious Sky's Ascend, then turning right back around to go back up to the keep, where you...
SLEW A DRAGON!
And aside from the battle itself, there was the gut wrenching shock of watching Vesper nearly get killed by the vile Duskbringer, and the aftermath of intense emotion when you realized that she actually survived the brutal attack, combined with the release from knowing that you have actually completed this task that you've been working towards for many long and difficult days since you first saw Aelar and Lia back at Dauric's tree.
As the waves of weariness and fatigue wash over you, and you watch Vesper continue to sob, although lightly now as she has sat down to rest, Chrys, Lumen and Kess especially can't help but wonder if this is indeed the end of the adventuring road for the young half elf with one blue eye and one violet colored eye.
As Chyrs described so accurately to Silver, she was but a naive, but bright eyed and enthusiastic girl, barely a women when she arrived in Yartar, who could barely hold her drink without getting tipsy. Having known Kess even longer, she easily looked to both Kess and Chyrs for guidance, being led towards a life on the road only by a desire to discover how to better control her wild magic powers so that she wouldn't hurt the ones she loved. Quite skilled and confident, Vesper actually became Arcane Champion at the magic competition at the Shieldmeet Festival on that vey first day in Yartar.
In the weeks followed, as your companion every single day, through all of the adventures and trials the four of you have faced together, young Vesper has been a faithful and capable party member. Often quiet, only to interject at the most opportune time, especially when some decision needed to be made, Vesper certainly held her own, whether it was lobbing fire bolts at countless enemies, taking a firm hand with poor Krackle during the whole episode with the mask, and even sustaining injuries in battle, along with the rest of you.
A fair and loving woman, it was obvious that she was genuinely driven on this quest by the care and desire to rescue the two children, and she marched right into battle with Duskbringer alongside with the rest of you, fearless and resolute.
However, watching her now, it is clear to you that Vesper's spirit has been broken by the dragon, along with her body. And although her physical wounds can be healed quickly by magic, you realize that it will take some time for her emotional wounds to heal. You're confident that they will, but you know that it will be a much longer process before she is the same happy, confident person with the bright eyes and the spring in her step that you once knew.
At any rate, night fall is coming and you are all famished and starving.
Chrys looks up at the sky, then back at the group. "We gotta make camp. I ain't keen on stayin' in this keep, but we ain't goin' nowhere when we're this tuckered out," she admits. "Let's set up our tents an' a watch. If y'all need some food, I got rations enough ta cover us fer the night. We'll be better off fresh in the mornin' if ya ask me."
Checking her pack, she draws out a bag of caltrops. "Still got these 'round, in case we wanna rely on more 'n jus' our eyes ta keep out the stray kobolds. Though I'm thinkin', after we offed their dragon an' their mage, they ain't gonna risk tusslin' with us. I kin take one o' the later watches, I got the eyes fer it."
As she slams her pack down and roots through it for her equipment, her hand clinks against a bottle. Holding up the hag's "gift," Chrys shakes her head, talking mostly to herself. "I jus' can't do it. I got sympathy, all right, but I jus' can't be in league wit' a creature like that. It feels wrong." Casting about the group, she spots Lumen, and looks down at the potion.
"Oi!" she calls out to the half-orc. "I got somethin' here fer ya!" She holds out the potions. "Seein' ya wavin' that sword around, I think ye kin make better use o' this thing than I can. I don't need it no more," she says confidently, passing it over.
(Add one potion of hill giant strength to your inventory!)