A Hero's Quest: Eye of the Demon Emperor

You can't overcome the dragon with strength. You understand that now. This beast is of a whole different level than you. It was stupid. You could have listened to mother, or you could have... wait... mother. That's right! Your mother is a dragon hunter! A bit of deception never hurt anyone.

"Before you do!" you step out of cover, pointing the tip of Excalibur toward the elder dragon. Pyndwyn would probably raise an eyebrow had he possessed one. "Recognize this?"

"A toothpick? Why would––" Pyndwyn looks at the sword and recognizes the immaculate design, "––impossible."

The dragon leans backward. He takes several steps away from you, cautious of any movements you make. Fear begins to take the better of him, as he is now aware of the fact that you are a person of some renown, but as his next question shows, he is not sure whom.

"Who are you?" he growls.

You stab Excalibur into the cave rock below you, the hilt and crossguard forming a cross. You put your hands on the pommel, standing proudly. Your face shows complex determination and discipline, like that of a soldier. "I am Leona, of house Baragar! And I am here to destroy you!"

The dragon growls. Pyndwyn expands his wings, flapping them four times to slow his fall as he jumps off of the mountain of gold in the direction of the cave's exit. "Goodbye... Baragar!" The dragon watches you with malice for a moment, stepping to the side to leave.

You move your hand, grabbing Excalibur. Pyndwyn flinches, then escapes.

All it will take now is to track him. That shouldn't be hard. You grin, knowing the dragon is full of poison, without even being aware of it in the slightest. He is as good as dead, and the kill belongs to you.


You sit upon Dullahan and follow the beast in the sky for several minutes. You find yourself fortunate that the dragon flies toward the south-west, making the whole job much easier. Halfway toward Mora, the dragon begins stalling, his wings incapable of producing enough force to maintain altitude. Pyndwyn falls. He crashes into the grassy plain, leaving behind a massive, oblong crater.

You detour from your dirt path and move Dullahan through the field, toward Pyndwyn's body. It takes a minute longer for the dragon to fully succumb to the poison's effects, but he does.

You stay there and examine the body for anything interesting.


"I can't believe he bought that," you poke his jawline with Excalibur to make sure he's dead.

...

"What..." you hear a voice. A familiar voice at that.

You look back and see no one else than your own mother, father, Cervitou, Roland, Beronica, and several other people, including local villagers, guards, mercenaries, and other people. Everyone is surprised to some extent in one way or another. Mother's jaw slacked open, father has his eyes shut open wider than a Beholder, Cervitou just stares blankly, Beronica mixes together all previous three expressions, and Roland seems astonished and amazed.

"in the living glories of Baragar is this..." your mother finishes her sentence, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I did this!" you point your thumb at yourself.

Beronica smiles at you, then rolls her eyes. Cervitou just stares absently.

"Don't ever"–mother runs up to you and embraces you–"scare me like that again!"

Father and Roland are very quick to join the collective hug and you're pretty sure father is crying, but not because of his doubt that you'd survive an encounter like this. You can hear him muttering something about him killing his first dragon at the age of sixteen and having slight difficulty with it. At least he's his usual self.

Cervitou merely walks up to the dragon, then slides his hand across its mouth, examining the body.

"An amazing catch," he muses. "The meat will be enough to feed Mora for months. The bones and scales can, on another hand, be perfected into armor and weapons. And the blood can become a mystical reagent the likes of which many won't get a chance to see."

"Hold it," Leona departs from the hug and glares sharply at Cervitou. "This is my daughter's prey. She decides what to do with it."

"Wait," you exclaim in surprise. "You're not mad?!"

"By the Gods of Light, Artoria! I'm madder than the Queen of the Middle Kingdom during the Month of Ashes!" she answers in a motherly voice, but her reference to the Queen of something completely slips past your unknowing mind. "But that doesn't matter right now."

"Well..."

(Pick what you want to do with the dragon's corpse. Up to 4. Note: You can pick one option twice to select two sub-options at the same time, but both are counted separately.)

[] Pick the bones and scales, then make them into enchanted, magical armor sets and weapons. Take one for yourself.
-[] Keep the rest in the armory.
-[] Donate the rest to the army.
-[] Sell the rest.
[] Take the meat of the dragon and cook exquisite meals from it, including soup. Make sure all of these meals are enhanced and given the best of spices, including magical ingredients, to make the most perfect of all dishes known to civilization!
-[] Keep and preserve them in the pantry until the time is right to consume them.
-[] Take all of them for yourself.
-[] Share them evenly between Roland and yourself.
-[] Donate them to Mora, Megafni, and the other cities.
-[] Invite everyone present (and more) for a grand feast, where everyone will consume the dragon together.
-[] Donate it to the army, to keep the soldiers and defenders of your nation well-fed.
[] Refine the draconic blood, tissue, and organs into alchemical and thaumaturgically-ritualistic reagents and ingredients of legendary power.
-[] Make healing, mana, and stamina potions out of them.
-[] Preserve them as alchemical ingredients and ritual reagents. (Can be used to create half-dragon homunculi, if you guys are into mad science like that.)
-[] Donate them to a magical organization.
--[] An Espanian University. In exchange, request education in the future.
--[] The Albion Mages' Society.
--[] Cervitou. Tell him to give it to his boss as a compensation for taking the Prism Staff.
[] Have Cervitou bind the dragon's soul within its heart, then consume it and take a bath in its blood. This will give you longevity, allow you to achieve superhuman parameters in the future, as well as greatly enhance your regeneration and maximum mana and health. However, doing this borders on black magic, and people will give you strange looks for some time.
[] (Optional, free choice.) Take the skull and have it carved into a tree-house. That will serve as the base of operations for you and Roland. Besides, a house inside a dragon skull. How cool is that?!
[] Write-in. There's many uses for the body of a dragon.

Calendar: 1005-01-01
Time: Night

Mana: 161/200
Money: 19GP, 7SP.