A 'Shadows of Undrentide' fan-fiction, by Parhelion the Wanderer
This story began more than a year ago, and I have been plagued by writer's block for a vast majority of that time. The prologue and the first chapter were originally posted on under my other pseudonym Lady Dioptase (later changed to Parhelion the Wanderer). With another few chapters in the works and a couple already completed, I was able to bring this defunct story back to life. :)
The two main characters are the two PCs that I used in the first two times that I played through the SoU campaign. It is told mostly in the perspective of the second character, a halfling cleric named Celestine, who I started at the Interlude (hence the odd introduction).
The genre of this story is a mix of practically everything. Comedy, tragedy, action-adventure, and everything in between, with a bit of romance for added flavor.
Disclaimer: Celestine Oakbridge and Xalia St. Genevieve are my brainchildren (I doubt anyone else would wish to claim them :P). All other characters and places belong to Bioware and Wizards of the Coast, among others. I only borrow them for fun, and (usually) return them unscathed. :)
Prologue: The Courier's Message
Celestine's recall stone glowed a faint blue as she held it up for Arvoreen to bless. Protect our journey, dear mistress, she silently prayed. A pulse of energy flowed through her body as she grasped her companion's hand in a ritual that they were all too familiar with now. The dinginess of the ogre's lair shimmered out of view, quickly replaced by the familiar walls and friendlier atmosphere of the Temple of Tyr. Celestine quickly replaced her recall stone in her backpack, breathing a sigh of relief. Normally she wouldn't rely on such measures to escape from the dangers she faced, but the circumstances were far different than normal. During their raid of the humanoid caves north of town they had discovered not one, but three prisoners. Two of them had been able to escape on their own, needing only Celestine's healing prowess and Tomi's lockpicks to realize their freedom. The third one was a different story. The ogre Dergiab had kept her bound and gagged in a storage room behind his lair, and by the time Tomi found the unfortunate woman Celestine was all but exhausted and unable to use even the simplest of healing spells. Carrying the unconscious prisoner was not an option either, given the fact that both Celestine and her companion were quite unable to lift a full grown human even under the best of circumstances.
It was the only time that Celestine ever regretted being born a halfling.
"Celestine, dear, what happened," came a familiar voice belonging to one Linu La'neral. The elven priestess approached the pair of halflings and their human charge with a concerned look in her eyes.
"Prisoner from the northern caves," Celestine began, her weary voice betraying her exhaustion. "I am spent and cannot heal her, and we most certainly were unable to carry her."
"Fear not my friend, I can aid her. You go now and have some rest." Linu replied with a smile. Satisfied, Celestine allowed herself to relax. As she and Tomi moved toward the door, however, something caught her eye. In her concern for the former prisoner she had failed to notice that the temple was far busier than usual, and the high priest was nowhere in sight. A knot of people had gathered around one area of the temple, their attention fixed on some unseen object in the center. Curious, the young cleric left Tomi's side and made her way over to the group, weaving her way through the other onlookers with relative ease until she finally caught sight of what was so captivating.
A faerie dragon lay asleep on the temple floor.
"Everyone please stand back! Give the poor thing some breathing room!" Neurik's voice called out. Grudgingly the crowd began to disperse with the exception of Neurik, Celestine, and a pair of gnomes. The high priest glanced over at Celestine. "You too, Lady Oakbridge. I apologize that I couldn't help you a moment ago, but as you can tell, I have been a bit preoccupied."
"What. . .where did this dragon come from?" Celestine asked.
"That, my friend, is something we do not know," came Neurik's response. "The creature flew into Port Llast a few hours ago, landed, and promptly collapsed to the ground, or so witnesses say. Aarin has ordered that this dragon should remain under constant surveillance until he can determine where it came from." He indicated the gnomes keeping watch nearby. Celestine recognized one of them as a sorcerer whom she had met briefly in Neverwinter, a peculiar man named Boddyknock. "We have discerned that it must be carrying a message of some sort, but as of yet no one has been able to open the container, not even with spells. Whomever sent this dragon has a powerful grasp of the arcane."
"The runes are dwarvish, nearest I can tell," Boddyknock stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "The pouch is quite literally covered with them, and I cannot for the life of me discern the meaning. Nor can I break the spell. . .quite a discouraging turn of events, I must say."
Celestine started a bit at the gnome's statement. A pouch sealed with dwarven runes, obviously by a mage of great power. Very few dwarves dedicated their lives to the pursuit of the arcane, and fewer still were powerful enough to create such a strong spell. How many dwarven mages had a faerie dragon as a familiar? She didn't know for sure, but there couldn't be too many of them out there. The evidence was beginning to stack up; Celestine knew of only one wizard in the North that could fit that description. But there is no way of knowing for certain, unless. . .
"Is there an 'S'-shaped scorch mark on the tip of the dragon's tail?" She spoke out loud.
"Why yes," Neurik replied. The high priest cocked an eyebrow in suspicion. "How did you know that?"
Celestine smiled. She never dreamed that accidentally singeing her former master's dragon would ever be an asset, but now that very mark identified the creature beyond any reasonable doubt.
"I know this dragon, as well as the mage that sent her," she spoke with confidence. "Her name is Riisi, and she is bonded to a dwarven wizard known as Drogan Droganson."
End Prologue
Thanks for reading:)