Chapter 1: Where exactly is… here?
POV: Morodai
A pounding headache, and a sense of vertigo, Not a fun thing. A sudden short fall and I'm impacting the dirt, thudding with a grunt of discomfort, even less fun. "ow..." I rumble out, cursing within my mind at whatever fate transpired me... and then another headache as new memories assailed my mind, a searing pain for what was surely minutes, yet only a moment at the same time.
Memories flooding my mind, of living in some small human village, or the outskirts of it, on a farm, and some basic knowledge of how to do it.. that the people are familiar with me... Humans in a world with basically no other notable race... "ohh... by Bahamut's broad backside..." I murmur in draconic. "Ugh... What in the hells did that jewel do to me..." my limbs groan as I stand up on all fours, and shake myself loose of the dirt around me... the area around.. familiar and foreign at the same time. Near the edges of a Valley called 'Stardew', was it?
How did I know this? I look myself over, pondering what has happened... I know the language, similar to Common... the Human language I know, but not at the same time. "Get ahold of yourself, Morodai..." I mutter to myself in Draconic as I shake out my wings. My... home... a farm. Hilly forested terrain, while a bit rough, was rich in many ways.
With a shake of my head, and a look around myself, I feel like my lair is nearby, I had been a few hours flight from it.. before that jewel. Stupid me, going and grabbing the glaringly obviously powerful magic crystal. Where did it even go? A problem for later... More to worry about than some magical gem, but something to find, and soon. Need to make sure about these, new memories I have, and walk over towards the home, noticing the cavern behind it more to my liking, seemingly bearing the marks of claws, and I could smell kobolds?
Following my nose and earfins twitching, I go towards the cavern, suited for my size and room to grow, I hit a wall, but felt an urge to press my claw to it, to which a portal opens eliciting a yelp and me falling backward, with a lack of dignity, before I scramble back on all fours. It's then that I notice, something roughly akin to my lair, but it's not. I smell kobolds and my scent, oddly, a place I know I've not been in... I walk through with caution, to find myself in a decently long entry passage that leads to other chambers, the yarking and yapping of kobolds in low draconic meets me, as I hear several of them scampering upon stone, and they meet me, with recognition.
"It's Morodai!" says the one in the lead, followed by others cheering in delight. This awareness of my name surprises me, the familiarity catches me off guard, but... I knew to expect these kobolds here, knowing there to be more? Of the how, I am unsure, But for now, I will go with it.
"How do you know of me?" I ask calmly, but with firmness in my tone. Well, as much of one as I can manage for my young age. "How do you know of me, and what do you know about this place?"
The first kobold responds, "We exist to serve you, we just... appeared, knowing you by sight and scent, that you would be coming for us!" they seemed overjoyed as the others all agreed, and more kobolds were arriving. "We know this place is yours. Other than that, we just know kobolds gladly serve dragons, and you are our dragon to serve... and how to do some things... it feels like we just hatched, yet haven't." They look around and shrug, chattering amongst themselves quickly and softly, too many for me to sort out.
"Okay... Order of events... Going treasure hunting on a calm day, flying, found some abandoned wagons, then in a clearing, a strong magical aura, I flew towards it, and it was a crystal lying amongst some stones, when I touched it, I experienced pain, and fell onto the ground, ground different, and assaulted by memories of a place, and something about making a portal to home. And now you are here, kobolds I somehow expected to find in a cavern I somehow know, yet have never been within, despite my scent being present..." I rub a claw upon my muzzle, with a groan, steam billowing from my snout in annoyance. "I feel like some god is playing a prank upon me perhaps." I finally conclude after a brief thought.
The kobolds look around. "So, You all, I want your help. It seems we live, peacefully, or at least, I do, with the locals, not sure how that works... I think this world doesn't really have Dragons, oddly. They speak a form of Common." they kobolds nod I pause to breathe in, gathering my thoughts.
"I want us to take stock... Do you know how to make Sundark goggles for yourself?" the kobolds reach into pouches and pulls a set out, each, as far as I can tell. "that's... excellent. I want to gather resources from around here, make our home secure... I have a feeling that the portal I came through is not going to close. The magic here feels stronger than out there. Perhaps it's a pocket plane? That gem did something..." I know I'm making leaps of logic at this point, but What else could I do at this point?
The kobolds look around a bit, then the one that seems to speak mostly for the others says, "what about the humans, do you think they'll be a problem?" I shake my head, remembering there's only a little more than a few dozen, My kobolds outnumbering them by more than twice as many. It's barely a village in my eyes.
"they seem, If my new memories are correct, friendly people. I will have to see what is and is not true, but I do not remember much of a threat from them in these memories. There's an abandoned mine, nearby, roughly east, I think, we'll need to get that working. I will lead expeditions there myself, initially alone. I have no desire to risk my servants without need." This seems to make the gathered kobolds chatter happily amongst each other. Similar to how the kobolds back home did when I told them as such.
Looking around, I spot a collection of various tools, rather simple, but useful... not that I needed them much myself, I felt I could handle most of them with either claw and fang, or magic. Speaking of, I would likely need to work on my own magic spells from here on, luckily I was well versed in magic theory of many kinds, due to my adventuring. Hopefully, this lair had some of the tools at least, of my old one. If not, I'd have to make them from scratch. Annoying but not impossible. Just take it One Step At A Time... why did I feel an emphasis on that phrase in my mind? A quick shake of the head follows that tangent.
"Regardless... I think working the surroundings for farming would be good... I would like volunteers among you, to come out with me, and take stock of the...Farm. Check for minerals and plant and animal life. I want you all to be able to be fed but do be careful, It's still uncertain what is going on. I am to figure this out." I sit down, and turn my focus inward, pondering questions, such as 'where am I?' and 'what is going on?' the where... is a farm on the outskirts of Pelican Town, in Stardew Valley, Near the Gem Sea... the soil here, even in rough hilly terrain is very fertile, and the temperate climate... very good for a variety of crops, based upon the season. A few of the kobolds come to me, hauling sacks of seeds, another carrying a few seeds, and one in a glass bell jar, of all things.
"Okay, those... look interesting... those sacks of seeds... they look to be seasonally marked? Makes sense... those six... that's some odd material... I think it's called plastic? A lightweight flexible clear material? We need to figure out how to make it I think." I murmur, "those... are long growing ones, that are very sweet... The label says Gem Berry sprouts... How odd."
"Let's get some of these tools out, and get some things planted, see where we go from there... explore our territory..." I gesture to the portal with my right wing, before standing and turning around. "those who wish to follow me, please put your goggles on, as you can see, it is daylight." and with that, I head back out into this strange new world, head still throbbing a little.
As we go out, I notice that it's a crisp early day, now that I'm thinking a bit more clearly, sniffing the air fills my senses with the richness of the forest around me, ready to provide a bounty of resources. A variety of trees, that I would need to become familiar with, and their uses, and then there are the hills as well, rich in minerals yet untapped, with a sizable spring in the north. To the east, is the entrance of my territory, my Farm... I need to see about peeking upon the town.. they know of me, but have had little interaction with... augh, my new memories, say I've Always Lived Here... Again with that odd emphasis.
That is twice in not that long of a span of time. Those new memories, say they know of me, have had some interaction, with me, but I keep to myself mostly, and no one would really believe that a dragon lived in the valley. Another shake of my head, and I look around more, spotting a Greenhouse... My greenhouse, in good condition, ready to grow sensitive crops, That single seed.
I'll need to work that one gently, I imagine. I don't want to lose a unique treasure of mine. Might put those Gem Berries in there as well, just to be sure. Are those artificial beehives? They look like... little human houses... like mine... Never been inside one. A human house. Not a Bee House. Well, I suppose not been in either, when I really think about it. I need to stop being a goblin and getting distracted by every stray thought.
Those bits of clothes on sticks, with fake bodies... Humans use them to keep birds from harming the crops. I have eight of them... That should be of good use. I do not want some birds stealing from me, or my kobolds. The place looks rather overgrown, oddly, maybe whatever is doing this didn't get things perfect, and this is an old overgrown farm in a hilly forest. I hope that if that's the case, It'll not come to chomp my tail with other details. Regardless, my kobolds and I will make quick work of clearing this clearing.
I decide to start testing my claws upon the soil and stone here, while some kobolds start to hack away the shrubs and tall grass. Good initiative on them. "Gather everything up, and get some wood, and Someone make storage for us to store things in. Even the grasses, perhaps they have alchemical uses." as I dig my claws, I turn the soil carefully, softening the ground in a way suitable for planting, it feels like. The stones, shatter under some effort, but nothing too tiring. I then turn towards one of the trees, not one of the old-growth ones, and take several clawing swipes at it, to see about cutting it down without using a Human tool, never having done this before... yet memories showing I had. I was going to get used to that, I was certain of it, just would take some time.
Time Passes as my kobolds work diligently alongside me, clearing the land, and doing some preparations for farming. The kobolds happily follow my directions, with ease, patches and rows of ground tilled and watered after seeds are placed in the ground. Having a few dozen kobolds aiding me, was quite the boon, more than I could handle in a day myself, even if the labor was not all too tiring.
After a good swath of land is planted, I request a kobold to have the special plants brought to me, so that they can be planted safely in the greenhouse, while I task others with foraging for useful looking plants from around the place. I wait for a few minutes before two kobolds come out with the requested items, and I go into the Greenhouse, waiting for them, I get to work, setting things up, scratching the soft soil inside the greenhouse, I plant the seeds in two corners, the back is where I felt it best to place them, safest it seemed. "I want to have this greenhouse cared for, watered, and kept free of pests as best as possible." I request.
The kobolds giving an eager nod, as they depart to get the ones with the tools to do so, and I do some more soil turning, before finding... something there and not there, and then I feel a rush of... something, Knowledge in how to push magic into permanent runes on items, a way of enchanting equipment, different than the ways I know from home... feeling like it was from yet somewhere else from this place. It showed mostly weapon-based runes, but... I felt ways of working the mechanisms, in other ways. Another damned headache, but it feels like it's going away quicker, at least.
Shaking my head to finish removing the headache, I give some more thought, it feels odd, to gain knowledge in this way, but useful, despite the headache. I exited the Greenhouse as the kobolds come in, with the watering cans, I was lucky, with more than one set of tools, even if they were low quality, though sturdy. Dull of edge. Perhaps some work would help there. I needed to learn and experiment with things. I huff a bit of steam, as the Sun sinks past mid-day, time continuing onwards. I needed to go out and explore, so, taking to the air with a few bounds and flaps of my wings, I am airborne, circling to above the treeline, aiming eastward towards the village.
I keep relatively low in the air, remembering something in the new memories about some advanced army that was a possible danger to myself if they decided to attack me, though the specifics are shaky at best, I spot ranches, farms, and then the village, Pelican Town, on the coast, the Sea to the south of it, with piers for boats. It didn't take long to fly above the town, scoping it out, finding the mine's entrance, near the lake, there was plenty of water around, and the houses all around, some businesses, and then there was that eyesore, Jojamart, glinting like a jewel, it hid a nasty core, or so my new memories thought. Another circle, spotting the tower to the west of the town, roughly south of my farm. A quick circle back, and I returned home... home away from home, anyway.
As I come into land, the kobolds outside the lair come to me, one of them carrying what looked to be human clothing, an odd long coat, that had high collars on the side, and meant to close... hmm... maybe with a bit of magic, I could have them go into Pelican town, and purchase some things for the farm. "Where did you find that?" I ask, to which the kobold with the hat says, "WE found it in the house. It seems to be good cloth." I hum a little, thinking of what to do.
"hmm... I need to see how others react to myself first, confirm the memories... There's a tower that my memory seems to hint at being a solitary residence... A decent place to check them. If the Village will accept my form, then perhaps we can avoid trickery. Deceptions discovered are deeply despised." I give a nod to the kobolds, who within earshot nod eagerly. "Regardless, I plan for us to grow our wealth and for Us to prosper, myself, and all my kobolds. A dragon without a strong Warren of kobolds is missing in their strength." I did indeed have a high view of the industriousness of kobolds. They are dedicated to whatever task they put themselves to, especially in groups.
"The region is familiar to the memories I have gained, as well, So that seems to be in line, Now to verify other things." and with that, I go to take back off. Wings flapping, I head southwards, mindful of others seeing me, still, even as the joy of flight eases some of my concerns for a time. I would hate to have been born without wings. Just another reason Dragons were better than most races, Not that I would Brag about it, at least to humans, and races like them. That way lies solitude, or worse, Attempted Slaying. Pride is dangerous, And... ah, there it is.
I circle once around the tower to bleed off some speed, and come in for a gentle landing on the western side, before walking up calmly, and knock on the door without pounding on it. The sound of shuffling coming from inside, before the door opens, revealing a human in a purple trimmed black hat, with purple hair, male, by the facial hair. Rasmodius, my memory prompts me.
"Rasmodius, Right? Sorry, memory issue." I say, trying to act casually. He flinched back at seeing me (perhaps my teeth) Before he collects himself. "A-AH... Morodai Yes, That's me... You've not been around for a while? Memory issues? What happened?" he asks, to which I quickly decide to cover with "Rocks fell on my head, and I think things are a little muddled." The man hums a bit, seeming to recognize me. "Ah... And you came to me, I saw you coming, But seeing a dragon face to face is always Startling."
I hum a little, with a slight nod. "Y-Yeah. Got back, and my farm was overgrown, but in good condition otherwise." The wizard nods to me. "Right. Glad to see you otherwise fine." I give a nod to this. "Come in, Morodai, I'm sure you have much you wish to discuss with me, and help sort things out in your head... Tell me, did the rocks break first?" he asks with a friendly joking tone, to which I chuckle a little. "I can't remember," I say back in a likewise amused tone as I walk into his tower. I felt like I really did know him. In a sense, With my new memories, I guess I did, and him, Me.
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