On Magnate's Scales (Dragonriding Quest)

[pitl]

[X] Burnished Copper
[X] the Light Before Sunrise

[X] Head down the mountain into the unknown village, to make sure Anne and Milo are okay

[X] Essme

 

[Solarstream]

[X] the Light Before Sunrise
[X] a Starfilled Night

✨sparkles✨

[X] Head down the mountain into the unknown village, to make sure Anne and Milo are okay
[X] Essme

 

[Eventua]

Spoiler: Results & OOC

[4] a Starfilled Night + [2] the Light Before Sunrise + Various
[6] Head down the mountain into the unknown village, to make sure Anne and Milo are okay
[6] Essme

Sorry about the long delay - as updates get long and my weekends tend to be busy with work and other responsibilities, I'm gonna try aiming for roughly 2 or 3 updates a week from now on.

You take a moment to weigh up the best course of action.

While part of you wants to return to the wound in the sky and make sure the others are okay, if the strangers are too dangerous for two dragons, Ozerilet won't make enough of a difference to risk your lives. On the other hand, whatever that thing was leapt over into the trees towards the village Essme mentioned, and the danger it could pose...

You nod, as much to assure yourself as anything, and get to your feet.

"We should head into that village, to make sure Anne and Milo are okay. If by the time we get back to camp Qaddan and the others haven't returned, then it'll be worth heading after them."

Essme shuffles uncomfortably, looking you up and down, and gestures to Oz's injury. The wound has been stitched up, but it's clearly left a deep mark in her dark, shimmering scales, blotting out patches of the many shards and spectacles of gold and violet that otherwise spread between and across her scales in constellation-like patterns.

You shake your head and give her your most reassuring smile, tapping your own torso over where the wound would be.

"There's a little ache there, but it's just a memory. Saern can guard her while she rests... and he'll be close enough to fly in and help if we need it."

Essme brushes a braid from her face, kicks some of the dampened dust from out under her feet, and heads for her tent. Crouching down, she rummages through the bags and slings a small pouch of bread and jerky at your feet, followed by gourds that slosh with milk and water. You reach down to pick them up, when a sheathed sword - a gently curved blade, the scabbard maybe a foot and a half long - lands next to them. Tying the items to your waist you notice Essme taking her own water gourd, a second sword, and a sturdy, compact bow with a small quiver of arrows.

"...So I'm on supply duty?"

She laughs, ever so slightly skipping as she returns to you.

"You're no Marr," the tap on your arm is sturdy enough to catch you off guard, "and I'm the better shot. You and Milo get on well, I'm sure you've picked up a thing or two!"

You sigh, smile and take in one last look at the sights of the camp, making eye contact with Oz. How quickly a place can feel like home when loved ones are there - even when you still get the faintest sense that she's not told you something.

I'll be back before the evening, you think.

She nods and lowers her head again to curl up in sleep, and with a look to the sun's light - cresting towards the highest peak, that south-eastern tooth that stands taller than all the others and taunts you.

"I'm a place of death," the wind whispers up your spine, "and if you return to me, I'll be sure to finish it."

****

The trek down the cliffside is slow, but thankfully uneventful (except for one particularly weird looking goat that gave you a funny look). The sunlight often struggles to reach areas of the path - as it twists and turns through crags and between the tallest trees and bushes - and so there is a constant wavering of gloom and shadow and a low fog that seems to be more visible the closer to the ground you get.

As the path opens up into the forest and hills, it strikes you just how much... walking there is, and you and Essme both have to stop and rest at a gentle, babbling stream after a couple of hours. Here, the widespread elms and majestic, narrow firs that rise above and between them cast a constant shadow on the trail, their roots a dense network littered in rotting leaves, tiny shrubs and hefty mushrooms. Thick, muddy soil fills the gaps between roots and stones - held over from last night's storm.

"Non-riders are made... of tougher stuff..." you gasp, and Essme just nods her head as she tries to catch her breath.

While you know Anne and Milo were able to get here at least in part by riding and following mole-oxen, a good chunk of it was uphill and on foot.

"No kayaks, either..." she grumbles back, and you can't help but smile.

"Yeah, can you imagine carrying them up the mountain? All the way from the coast?"

She smiles and almost closes her eyes, shrinking her neck and bunching up into a squat position like some sort of elderly tortoise.

"Marr could do it," she says, her voice croaky, "what a good boy he is! He makes sure to eat all his vegetables!"

You grin and do the same thing, recalling endless lectures from the cloud and saltwater elderwomen.

"Not like that Rell boy, no manners, no manners at all! I once served him a plate of kelp and fish eggs and he couldn't stomach it at all!"

Essme's eyes widen as she leans forward, gently punching you a few times.

"Excuse you! Kelp's great!"

You laugh, keeping up the act for a little longer only to hear the sound of branches snapping, and the screech of something in the trees. Each of you stand to attention, ears perking up as you keep a close eye on the treeline. The fog makes it difficult to see too far, but you can make out the faintest outline of… stakes? Towers? Some sort of upright structure looms just behind the trees on the opposite hillside, maybe another hour's walk away after crossing the stream.

"It was towards the village, right?" you whisper, and Essme nods, "Then we should keep moving."

She falls in behind you, keeping one hand resting on the bow wrapped around her shoulder. You don't draw your sword, but you do rest a hand on its hilt, finding some reassurance knowing that you've had…

PICK ONE:
[] ...a little training in its use, even if only what was required - you can handle it safely enough.
[] ...a fair amount of training - enough to take on an armed opponent or a simple beast.
[] ...a large amount of training - you took naturally to the sword and know how to handle it effectively against both man and beast, even against two or three foes at once or against a vicious monster.
---- NOTE: This choice will affect available options on later skill choice votes - the more training and skill you have with using swords, the less time you will have had for learning other skills.

Even so, the trudge onwards is voiceless - just the wind in the trees, the calls of distant birds, and the terrible sensation that something is watching you.

****

As you reach the edges of the treeline and the trek becomes more uphill and more uneven, you can start to make out the edges of the village and its structure becomes a little clearer. It's maybe only another ten minute's walk, though you'll soon be out in the open and easily spotted.

Wooden guard towers stand at the edges on foundations of stone, and between and beyond them are an incomplete collection of wooden stakes, driven into the rocks along the edges of the path for quite some distance. Unlit glass lanterns hang from hooks along the path, and beyond the watchtowers are an eclectic mix of slate stone homes and simple wooden plots - what you guess would be growing a variety of herbs and vegetables.

Curved stairs marked with wooden pillars and more lanterns are carved into the rock, and it becomes apparent that there are multiple 'layers' to the village, with some homes carved directly out of the side of the hill. Past the edges of the 'ground floor' it opens up into a great overhanging cave - like an old dragon's mouth - with space enough for dozens more homes and plots, and you can just about see more lanterns hanging to illuminate it. Who knows how deep inside the mountain it might run?

It hadn't been visible when flying over ahead or from your camp, but whatever this village is, it's quite a bit more than an isolated hamlet.

You turn to Essme, and notice she's unintentionally holding her breath.

"What do you think?" you ask.

She lets out a gentle sigh, and taps her chin.

"I think… this place isn't what I expected. But still, there's no banners," she gestures to the simple stone walls and the guard towers, and sure enough no imperial or pactlord banners were flying, "so they should be neutral."

You cross your arms, deep in thought.

PICK ONE:
[] Stick to the plan, and approach them openly and together. Essme can always call for Saern to help if things get dangerous, right?
[] Cautiously approach the village by yourself, and ask Essme to remain hidden near the treeline with her bow. If things get dangerous, she can message for Saern to fly down without risking herself.
[] Write-In

 

[SpacePaladin]

Curved stairs marked with wooden pillars and more lanterns are carved into the rock, and it becomes apparent that there are multiple 'layers' to the village, with some homes carved directly out of the side of the hill.

Curved stairs marked with wooden pillars and more lanterns are carved into the rock, and it becomes apparent that there are multiple 'layers' to the village, with some homes carved directly out of the side of the hill.

Click to shrink...

Repeat

[X] ...a little training in its use, even if only what was required - you can handle it safely enough.
I would imagine the weapons of a dragon rider would be along the lines of a shortbow, lances, javelins and fletchetts.


[X] Stick to the plan, and approach them openly and together. Essme can always call for Saern to help if things get dangerous, right?

 

[TheWoods]

[X] ...a little training in its use, even if only what was required - you can handle it safely enough.
I'd imagine that, as a dragon rider, the number of times we will be in a fight that is close enough range for a sword fight will be pretty limited. Probably the most common occurrence for that would be in a dragon rider/dragon vs dragon rider/dragon fight. Whether it be archery, healing, or magic(depending on how much magic a dragon rider like Rell can even use, that is) would be a more valuable skill. Stabin' is fun but I say we play to our advantage as dragon riders. Not to mention that we can probably raise our skills if we need to at a later point. As the saying goes, it's easy to go from a novice to skilled than it is to go from skilled to mastery. If we are getting into a whole bunch of melee fights, natural character development will allow us to grow, and I can't imagine Rell to have engaged in many sword fights as he currently is.

[X] Cautiously approach the village by yourself, and ask Essme to remain hidden near the treeline with her bow. If things get dangerous, she can message for Saern to fly down without risking herself.
It may not matter much but I figure the intelligent approach is the way to go. Plus it supports the earlier duty/compassionate choice we made earlier on in the quest(the one where Oz was worried and asked us not to put ourselves in danger which we agreed to soothe her, but our real thoughts were that we would take that risk if we had to.) Rell puts others' safety above his own and, in this case, it's relatively necessary. If nothing else, it gives the chance for one of us to escape if this all goes horribly wrong. I think the other option is acceptable too just slightly less optimal. To be fair, it does have its advantages too. If we are open about it then it cultures a sense of trust between the two parties(assuming that they haven't been demon'd) and it may be slightly awkward to have an armed combatant preparing what looks like a sneak attack if they find out about it.

Also, Essme seems fairly chill so far. They do have that whole childhood chamade going on, which is nice.

 

[TheCount]

[X] ...a little training in its use, even if only what was required - you can handle it safely enough.

[X] Stick to the plan, and approach them openly and together. Essme can always call for Saern to help if things get dangerous, right?

Something screeching is in the woods, and the party is split already.... better not leave anyone alone.
As for the little training, im curious what other skills there are.

 

[Eventua]

Spoiler: Results

[3] ...a little training in its use, even if only what was required - you can handle it safely enough.
[2] Stick to the plan, and approach them openly and together. Essme can always call for Saern to help if things get dangerous, right?

For a moment, you consider asking Essme to stay by the treeline - but aside knowing how she might react to that, you still can't shake the sense that something dangerous is lurking, ever out of sight.

"We'll approach openly, without traps or threats. Saern and Oz can fly in to help if we need it."

Essme thinks for a moment, then silently nods, and with bated breath you step out of the woods and head for the watch towers. It's a rough, uneven journey that gets steeper as you go, but the knowledge that you're almost at your destination sits in your chest and adds to your resolve.

With each step the village becomes more detailed, and you can start to make out shapes that are more decorative. From amidst some of the stakes are stacks of stones, decorated with branches and carefully sculpted pieces of metal, all arranged into the shape of... horns?

No - teeth, and flowers.

Under the shade of the closest guard tower's roof you can just about make out the silhouette of a human, followed by the sound of... birdsong? A whistle goes out, and for a moment you think it might be a coincidence...

Until a second call rings out from somewhere in the caverns, and an arrow lands in the mud just in front of you with a whistle and a thud.

There's an awkward moment, as you raise your hands in a gesture of peace, taking a few more cautious steps only for another arrow to land in front of you again - this time close enough for you to reach down and pick it up.

"Hold step!" you hear from the guard tower, as a man wearing light, wooden-plated armour emerges from the shadows, "Who are you?"

You wonder whether to go into detail - that you're dragon riders from the heritage clan, here on a mission after reports of strange weather and poisoned plant-life - but know that it might be wiser to save that sort of information till you have a better idea of who they are.

"My name is Rell!" you call back, "We're travellers through these mountains, and some friends of ours would've come here about an hour or so past."

There's silence as the man disappears back into the shadow, more birdsong, then silence. For several pained minutes you wait in silence, until at last you hear the sound of movement from within the village grounds. A figure comes sprinting into view, clad in armour of leather, wood, and sculpted metal that resembles... teeth? Flowers? Some combination, and your mind races back to your education at the Winged Tower.

You glance at Essme, and she meets your eyes with a confused look.

"Do you think they could be..." you whisper, when the man shouts at you.

"Strangers! Hurry, hurry - the new bloom must speak to you!"

You glance at Essme, and she shrugs. Together you turn to run towards him.

He's a young man - barely more than a boy, but that feels a little hypocritical to think - with tanned skin and sharp red hair poking out from under an ill-fitting helmet. From between the gaps in his armour, flowers and onion leaves have been woven into the fabric. When you meet, he gestures for you to follow and turns to run back to the village.

"Could've gone worse, they could've just shot us," Essme says to you, gesturing back in the direction of the camp, "especially since..."

You steady the looming panic in your chest with a strange kind of reassurance. If they are who you're starting to suspect, the fact they didn't just kill you tells you there's more going on here than a bunch of violent mountain people.

The run up the hill is tiring, but over fairly quickly - in a few minutes you're jogging back the wide array of stakes and markers, as you follow the man past the guard towers. Up close the true scale of the village strikes you - maybe as many as a dozen homes and simple stone structures beyond the edges of the cavern, with winding stone stair cases reaching up and around into the hillside. Suddenly he stops, waving his hands for you both to follow suit, and looks at some of the other guards now visible - maybe three or four, a mixed group of men and women dressed in similar armour to him. The boy's eyes are eager, for... recognition? Respect?

The oldest of the guards - a slightly hunched but otherwise muscular woman, with narrow eyes and greying hair - raises an open hand and makes some sort of gesture to the boy where she holds out her thumb and smallest fingers, and the boy nods.

The boy turns to stare at you with relentless concentration, and you make a mental note not to challenge him to any staring contests.

"You will wait," he says, standing to attention with his hand held over his axe, "and the new bloom will come."

"Right," you respond, nodding back to him. He doesn't move or change expression.

The wait is more than a little awkward, and you pass the time by glancing around the village. The great cavern it's built into stretches off into darkness only faintly illuminated at points by simple lanterns, which you realize are framed with that same metal filigree - slightly abstract and flowery, with some element of teeth, tusks or fangs, primarily pointed upwards.

You feel Essme tap you on the shoulder, and as you turn to her she's rubbing her free hand against her arm.

"This... how is such a large place so empty?" she whispers, and that's when it hits you why you've been feeling so uneasy.

At least a dozen homes out here and dozens more in the dim cavern light, filled with plots of vegetables, mushrooms, roots, onions and herbs - some you recognize, some you don't - and yet you could make out... ten, maybe twelve people? And there's no clear sign of activity within the homes, either.

Could it be the shadow that escaped Oz? you think.

But while there's definitely an unease to this place - and the faintest smell of feces - it's nothing like Essme described, and it strikes you as unlikely that something so small could gut a village of this scale in just one day.

You shake your head. Something other than your own problems is here.

Finally, after a few more painful minutes there is the crying of a hawk - and from the cavern emerge two figures.

A deathly pale girl is in front - maybe no more than thirteen or fourteen - and she is dressed in a layered dress of hemp and flax, with flowers sown into it. Her dark brown hair is tied up in old roots, a crown made of branches but plated over in delicate pieces of metal, sculpted to look like rose petals, and with what look to be sets of mantlejaw teeth set into the front of it. Between the teeth are a set of bells arrayed around her head, on her wrists and ankles, and with every step there is the jangling and ringing of the bells. Each step she takes is marked by the unease of someone who spends most of their time resting, but her eyes have the determination of a predator ready to make a kill.

To her left just past her stands an imposingly tall older man - silver at the edges of his hair and beard - in crudely assembled metal plates attached to patchwork silk and leather armour. At his side he carries a woodman's axe, ornately decorated and seemingly reinforced to cut with greater force than such a hatchet would normally need, and on his head rests a crown not unlike the girl's - though his has been sculpted into a shape similar to the guard towers outside.

They approach slowly but surely, and the villagers - their own simple skirts of hemp and flax only slightly less intricate than the girl's - all bow as she approaches. The guards likewise bow, though not as deeply, and with a deep intake of breath she waves a hand for them to rise. As if carefully practiced, the ringing of her bells is marked by the guards standing back to attention, and then she turns to you and Essme.

"Hello," she says, baring teeth stained red by... berries, you hope, "how can we help?"

You glance at Essme and take a firm breath. She gives you a wink and a nod - silent reassurance that Saernaulinos will be keeping a wary eye on what's happening, out of sight.

PICK ONE OR TWO:
[] Our friends came to this village - where are they?
[] We were hunting a terrible shadow, and fear it has come to this village. Have you seen anything?
[] Who are your people?
[] Who are you?
[] Why are there so few of you in a village so large?
[] Write-In
---- NOTE: These are broad stroke intentions for the questions - actual wording may vary.

 

[TheCount]

[x] Our friends came to this village - where are they?
[x] We were hunting a terrible shadow, and fear it has come to this village. Have you seen anything?

Gotta get our friends, and it dont hurt to warn them, imo, at least.

 

[SpacePaladin]

[X] Our friends came to this village - where are they?
[X] Why are there so few of you in a village so large?

 

[pitl]

"Hello," she says, baring teeth stained red by... berries, you hope

Click to shrink...

Well, that's not concerning at all. This is getting very interesting. I wonder if the stained teeth thing is something important to keep in mind, given there's also the "no - teeth, and flowers" line earlier on. Regardless, I think it might be best to dance around the more personal questions slightly, get a bit of an idea how these people are going to react before diving in to what's going on here...

[X] Our friends came to this village - where are they?
[X] We were hunting a terrible shadow, and fear it has come to this village. Have you seen anything?

 

[Mars]

[X] Our friends came to this village - where are they?
[X] We were hunting a terrible shadow, and fear it has come to this village. Have you seen anything?

 

[GAWR]

[X] Our friends came to this village - where are they?
[X] We were hunting a terrible shadow, and fear it has come to this village. Have you seen anything?

 

[Eventua]

Spoiler: Results

[5] Our friends came to this village - where are they?
[4] We were hunting a terrible shadow, and fear it has come to this village. Have you seen anything?

"Well, we were travelling through the mountains. Some friends of ours - a tall woman with dark hair, and a short man with one ear - volunteered to come here to buy supplies. Where are they?"

The girl closes her eyes but doesn't answer, and there's a silence that lingers just a little too long. The older man at her side leans over and whispers something to her so quietly that you wonder if he's not just miming it, but he doesn't break his own relentless gaze at you. Then, he stands fully upright again and the girl opens her eyes, and raises a hand to point towards the south.

"We did see strangers like you described," she says, her voice crackling in a way that leaves you a little on the backfoot, "but they were so enraptured by the hopes of our people that they volunteered to join the war party."

Now you're physically on the backfoot, unable to contain your confusion, and you can just about process a stunned "...what?" escaping your lips.

The girl turns to look at the man, who leans down to let her whisper something into his ear. Unlike him, she seems a little less practiced at doing so without the information being audible to others, and you can just about make out the words "mother" and "map". He gives her a look as if to say 'are you sure?' and she eagerly nods, and so he stands to attention once more.

He gestures to the young guard who brought you here, whispers something to him, and then the boy runs off into the cave.

The girl turns to you while all this is happening, and steps a little closer. The bells jangle in time to every movement, and part of you wonders if it's all a very elaborate trick.

"Our war party was soon to head south - beyond the poisoned root - to burn down the homes of our enemy. We hope that such an attack might help them understand the need for us to be one tribe again," she takes a moment to spit onto the ground, and the guards all follow suit, "not imperial cowards."

Your chest tightens and your mind races and you think you might want to throw up.

"You're..." you take a deep breath, "you're from the mantle tribe? We had heard your people were gone from these lands."

There's a moment where you wonder if you've made a mistake, as any hint of good mood or intention falls from the faces of the guards and villagers, and the young girl bares her teeth, just for a moment. But as she looks at you, she seems to... wince? To think better of whatever she was going to say, perhaps.

"... We were once mantle tribe, yes. We have been shown a better way than most, though. We will not surrender to the empire..."

Then she adjusts her expression, a pleading smile; "...just as you wont, we hope. You're dragon riders of the grassland people?"

Your mind races, trying to piece together what the elderwomen taught you during your training. Remnants of the mantle tribe are still alive in the mountains, after all this time? And on top of that, they're seeking the help of dragon riders? You shake your head, trying to focus on your immediate worries. You point back the way you came, to the clifftop encampment. From here it's not visible - merely a distant climb of sheer rock, uneven trees and shrubs, and loose paths - though you're realizing if the sky was clearer that you could probably spot a dragon flying overhead, and a group of them would have been unmissable.

"We're dragon riders, yes. We flew here from the north, but... we didn't come here to fight the empire - we were sent to explore rumours of a terrible poison in the ground, and strange creatures. We have only come to your village to find our friends, but we also came to warn you - last night we were attacked by what we think was one of the creatures reported, connected to what we were looking for. We lost track of it near here, and fear it might have come to this village."

Essme then steps forward; "It would have been foul smelling, and a little like a slug - but very fast and surrounded in smoke! Have any of you seen anything like that?"

There's a moment as the girl's face gets splintered by confusion. Her right hand has started to tremble, and she rubs the fingers of her right hand into her left palm to try and steady it and to keep her focus.

"We have seen creatures like you mentioned, over the last few weeks. They poisoned some of our vegetable plots, and..." she turns to wave a hand at a large but empty fenced area within the cavern, "turned the chickens into monsters. We had to kill them before their meat made us sick."

You make eye contact with Essme, as if sharing a silent thought - the first reports of plants and animals near the riverwater families becoming sickly, strange and vicious were just a few weeks ago.

She turns to the girl and gives her gentlest smile.

"Do you know where they came from?"

The girl tilts her head as if she had just been asked how many eyes she has.

"The traitors to the south, of course. Ever since they surrendered to the empire, they've been trying to uproot us - this is just their latest plan. But we will crush them, and prove our strength again! Your friends kindly knew that was what was needed, and their arrival fitted into the plan of our war party."

Something about the way she's talking about Anne and Milo leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, and for a moment it's a real struggle not to lash out for more helpful answers.

But perhaps something in the soil respects your patience, because the older man narrows his eyes - like uncertainly recognizing an old friend - and then leans forward to whisper something to the girl. Her eyes go wide - bloodshot, you notice - and she quickly nods her head, resetting into the strange decorum that has tried to be built around her.

"If you help us with such powerful creatures on your side you would surely be able to help your friends, and in the process you would help us in uniting our people. Besides... the empire are your enemies too, aren't they?"

You wince a little at her comment, the sting of a story your grandfather told you long ago.

PICK ONE, TWO OR THREE -- Questions:
[] ... {No Further Questions}
[] Who are your people, if you're not part of the mantle tribe now?
[] Who are you?
[] Why are there so few of you in a village so large?
[] Why did you drag our friends into your war?
[] Do you really think your enemies have a power over these shadow creatures?
[] Have your scouts seen anything else strange to the south-east, like purple chains in the ground? Or a strange wound in the sky?
[] How did your people survive the attacks of the empire for so long?
[] Write-In
---- NOTE: These are broad stroke intentions for the questions - actual wording may vary.

PICK ONE:
[] Offer to join them...
--- ...only as far as needed to see your friends again.
--- ...in helping them defeat their enemies.
--- ...in helping them defeat their enemies, and to root out the empire in their lands.
[] The mission must come first - refuse to help...
--- ...peacefully, but ready to fight and call for help if needed.
--- ...forcefully, and call for Ozerilet.
[] Write-In

---- NOTE: An offer to help can be withdrawn later, but the Mantle Tribe - and presumably any successors or displaced groups from their culture - were always famed for their sense of honour. On top of that, they traditionally were not on the best of terms with your people or dragons as a whole. Offering to help and then betraying them will go down very poorly.
---- NOTE: Even riding a dragon, going into battle is a risky proposition and can be very time consuming.

 

[Zaealix]

Hrrrm.
One way to read them is that they managed to talk our friends into helping them in their attack.
The other, is that they're VERY creepy and have mind messing powers. But I suspect the former rather then the latter-their story is fairly convincing, if somewhat problematic for us as we didn't come loaded for war, and we've got an injured dragon still recovering.

 

[pitl]

[X] Why are there so few of you in a village so large?
[X] How did your people survive the attacks of the empire for so long?

[X] Offer to join them only as far as needed to see your friends again.

 

[Solarstream]

[X] Who are your people, if you're not part of the mantle tribe now?
[X] Have your scouts seen anything else strange to the south-east, like purple chains in the ground? Or a strange wound in the sky?

[X] Offer to join them only as far as needed to see your friends again.