Chapter one: “Here there be Dragons”
A letter came one day with the regular post, to the first keeps of the dragon slayers across Aerdra…
To the orders, those that remain…
The dragon threat is no longer among us, however I cannot be certain this will last.
There are strange happenings here in Brix: crops withering, monsters growing fiercer,
and I need not mention the shadow that has begun creeping across our moon.
These events may not have anything to do with the disappearance of the dragons,
but everything happened too quickly, too close together for me to believe they are unlinked.
I am asking you, those who remain, to travel to Brix, to the Dargoon keep at Seawatch point
for a last, combined effort to uncover the truth of what happened.
We will meet at the Dragon’s Head inn, a fortnight from the date on this letter.
To dragons’ end,
Dane, commander of the Brix Dragoons
To those that watch, those with eyes that only seem human. A copy of the letter is obtained, and then it is shared. To those high dragons in hiding, they know where the knights will gather...they know where to go...
~~~~~~~~~
The rain threw itself against the windows of the tavern. A proper ocean storm had settled in for the night, battering the little houses of Seawatch town. It soaked thatch and slicked stairways, sending rivulets diving out of the eavestroughs and cascading onto the cobbled streets below.
From the window, through the streams of water that came down over it, Leo could see the misty shadow of the keep, sitting alone high on the tip of the point. Only one, solitary light could be seen, coming from a high window. Probably Dob, their resident researcher, finishing the last of his preparations.
Leo remembered a time when not a room was unlit at this hour. The sight now was sobering.
“Are you sure they’ll come?” Leo asked the room, but the question was mostly for Dane, the aging commander whom she’d followed since she’d risen from the ashes of her town.
“Patience lass,” Dane said softly. “There are those who haven’t given up their oaths quite yet. They’ll be here.”
Leo looked around; there was the odd patron here and there, but, for the most part The Dragon’s Head lay depressingly void of bodies. The traffic here had mostly been due to the slayers, and business with the keep, but now, most of the regular people had already packed up, and taken their business elsewhere.
“Hey Leo, if you’re pressed for something to do, howabout a song?” Dane ventured, a wry smile hidden behind his salt and pepper beard.
“What’s there to sing about?”
“Oh come on, you know the one.”
Leo groaned. “I haven’t had near enough pints for that Dane.”
“Come ooon, you love that song. The rest of us would appreciate it. Truly.”
Leo gave him a scowl, then slowly…
"Here there be dragons,"
Is what they always say,
Well, here there be fools
And here they are to stay,
Dane grinned, and began to stamp to the bouncing rhythm of the song as Leo’s voice filled the little room, drawing eyes and a few more smiles.
They've teeth like the dragons,
And sharper tongues to match,
Their mouths they spit out fire,
So you'd best batten the hatch,
The barkeep was smiling now too, and sent a pint sliding down the counter straight into the woman’s hand as she continued now with more energy, raising the glass to the room, enticing others to join in.
You can flee far and wide,
But, they'll always find you,
They smell you on the wind,
and how shall I remind you?
You see, like the dragons,
They know you to the bone,
Because, we all say very well,
They know one of their own!
Leo laughed and took a gulp of the ale. How much longer would she be able to have this she wondered. There was many a fine memory she’d made in this pub, with her slayer kin...
((Poem adapted from a poem by Ada Katona))
Zazz The Grand Fool 28days Worthlessplebian Fluffy-Kat VeiledPariah blitzfritz
A letter came one day with the regular post, to the first keeps of the dragon slayers across Aerdra…
To the orders, those that remain…
The dragon threat is no longer among us, however I cannot be certain this will last.
There are strange happenings here in Brix: crops withering, monsters growing fiercer,
and I need not mention the shadow that has begun creeping across our moon.
These events may not have anything to do with the disappearance of the dragons,
but everything happened too quickly, too close together for me to believe they are unlinked.
I am asking you, those who remain, to travel to Brix, to the Dargoon keep at Seawatch point
for a last, combined effort to uncover the truth of what happened.
We will meet at the Dragon’s Head inn, a fortnight from the date on this letter.
To dragons’ end,
Dane, commander of the Brix Dragoons
To those that watch, those with eyes that only seem human. A copy of the letter is obtained, and then it is shared. To those high dragons in hiding, they know where the knights will gather...they know where to go...
~~~~~~~~~
The rain threw itself against the windows of the tavern. A proper ocean storm had settled in for the night, battering the little houses of Seawatch town. It soaked thatch and slicked stairways, sending rivulets diving out of the eavestroughs and cascading onto the cobbled streets below.
From the window, through the streams of water that came down over it, Leo could see the misty shadow of the keep, sitting alone high on the tip of the point. Only one, solitary light could be seen, coming from a high window. Probably Dob, their resident researcher, finishing the last of his preparations.
Leo remembered a time when not a room was unlit at this hour. The sight now was sobering.
“Are you sure they’ll come?” Leo asked the room, but the question was mostly for Dane, the aging commander whom she’d followed since she’d risen from the ashes of her town.
“Patience lass,” Dane said softly. “There are those who haven’t given up their oaths quite yet. They’ll be here.”
Leo looked around; there was the odd patron here and there, but, for the most part The Dragon’s Head lay depressingly void of bodies. The traffic here had mostly been due to the slayers, and business with the keep, but now, most of the regular people had already packed up, and taken their business elsewhere.
“Hey Leo, if you’re pressed for something to do, howabout a song?” Dane ventured, a wry smile hidden behind his salt and pepper beard.
“What’s there to sing about?”
“Oh come on, you know the one.”
Leo groaned. “I haven’t had near enough pints for that Dane.”
“Come ooon, you love that song. The rest of us would appreciate it. Truly.”
Leo gave him a scowl, then slowly…
"Here there be dragons,"
Is what they always say,
Well, here there be fools
And here they are to stay,
Dane grinned, and began to stamp to the bouncing rhythm of the song as Leo’s voice filled the little room, drawing eyes and a few more smiles.
They've teeth like the dragons,
And sharper tongues to match,
Their mouths they spit out fire,
So you'd best batten the hatch,
The barkeep was smiling now too, and sent a pint sliding down the counter straight into the woman’s hand as she continued now with more energy, raising the glass to the room, enticing others to join in.
You can flee far and wide,
But, they'll always find you,
They smell you on the wind,
and how shall I remind you?
You see, like the dragons,
They know you to the bone,
Because, we all say very well,
They know one of their own!
Leo laughed and took a gulp of the ale. How much longer would she be able to have this she wondered. There was many a fine memory she’d made in this pub, with her slayer kin...
((Poem adapted from a poem by Ada Katona))
Zazz The Grand Fool 28days Worthlessplebian Fluffy-Kat VeiledPariah blitzfritz