"The tree that would grow to Heaven must send its roots to Hell."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
It is time to go back to the day of Irenicus' meeting with Matron Mother Despana, when Ralis and his party had not yet reached the deep gnome city. The war between the dark elves of Ust Natha and the surface elves of Suldanessellar continued, but there is more that needs to be done. After leaving the Underdark through a dimensional portal he had cast, Irenicus stepped out of the opening of another portal and found himself on the road leading to the trade town known as Brost. Irenicus could see the town a mile away from a high rising hill he stood on that is dozens of yards away from the dirt road leading towards the city. Before going his separate way from Bodhi who he left behind back in the Forest of Tethir, Irenicus tasked her to stay behind near Suldanessellar while he gathers the forces he needs to assault the city from within. He told her that it may take a few days to gather the forces necessary to aid in their assault of Suldanessellar, but the wait will be worth it. Bodhi suggested that he find a chromatic dragon to aid them, and he took her advice into consideration even though getting a dragon to aid them is easier said than done, but the benefits of having a dragon fighting alongside him would be a great achievement.
Any chromatic dragon would be a challenge for the city's defenses to fight. While most of Suldanessellar's armies are busy dealing with the drow armies of Ust Natha, the forces inside the city must be dealt with too, and though Irenicus could deal with him using his powerful magic spells, it would be much easier if he had no distractions. That is why he has arrived in Brost, the "Mushroom Village", to find a group of evil aligned sorcerers to recruit to attack the city and keep the remaining soldiers and priests distracted. Ideally, the race of outsiders known as the rakshasa would be the best devious sorcerers to recruit, but the problem is, they could be anywhere, disguised as anyone. But finding a member of the rakshasa race is not his top priority right now. Right now his top priority is to find a dragon and recruit it to aid in the assault against Suldanessellar, and the best place to start searching for a dragon is to start fishing for rumors within the nearest city. And so Irenicus headed for the town, not even bothering to ask the people heading towards the town on horseback or caravan for a brief ride, he just simply walked towards the town.
The name of the town comes from its first settler in the Lions' Dynasty, a woodsman named Kelhad Brost. After starting out as a hunter's lodge for a few years, it grew to a caravan stop and farmers started to move into the area. Brost's citizenry has tried once to separate from Tethyr and become an Amnian town since it is on the border between Amn and Tethyr, but the Council of Six and many rich merchant families rejected Brost's proposal of being an Amnian town, so Brost to this day remains a Tethyrian outpost.
When Irenicus arrived in the city, he immediately searched for the nearest tavern, paying little attention to what is going on around him. The only things he vaguely took notice of is that the town is mostly populated by humans, but there were a few halflings and half-elves here and there, walking through the streets, chatting with old friends and acquaintances, trading various items, going into or leaving various kinds of shops, selling mushrooms, peaches, cider and other fruits and goods. He kept his ears open for some people talking about dragons... or what is left of his ears hidden under his skull cap.
After the first few minutes of wandering the streets, Irenicus finally asked a halfling man where is the nearest tavern, and the halfling man told him that The Oakbarrel Tavern is the only tavern in town, and he gave Irenicus directions on how to get there. Three minutes later, Irenicus found himself standing in front of the tavern door, but giving the door four feet of space between him and it so that people leaving the tavern will not bump into him. Before going in the tavern, Irenicus pondered over how will his recruitment plan work out. What if no one in the tavern is a disguised rakshasa? And what if there is no news of a recent dragon attack? He has a plan for the former. Before his arrival in Brost, Irenicus took a day to memorize a Divination spell known as "Detect Illusion", which will help him identify any rakshasa disguised as a human, elf or half-elf. As for news of dragon attacks, there shouldn't be any shortages on that. After allowing two humans, a woman and a man walk out of the tavern, Irenicus reached into the material component bag tied around his belt and pulled out a shard of glass that is tinted with yellow dye, which is needed when casting the Detect Illusion spell, and he cast the spell on himself before entering the tavern.
Once inside, he took a few steps further away from the exit then stood idle while slowly turning his head left and right, scanning his surroundings. As expected, he saw several people sitting at the bar and tables scattered all over the room telling stories and such. And as far as his illusion detecting enhanced eyes could tell, no one is a disguised rakshasa or dragon or any other race pretending to be something they are not. But that did not discourage Irenicus from his search, however, he marched further into the tavern as if he has a purpose there, and slowly turned his head left and right as he passed by each table on either side, making sure he did not miss seeing anyone who could be disguised as something they are not. Irenicus made his way to the bar and sat down on an empty chair to the left from a chair occupied by a tan skinned human with short red hair eating peach cobbler, a wooden bowl containing steaming sweet corn and drinking a glass of water with three cubes of ice in it. As soon as Irenicus sat down, the bartender, a middle aged human man with balding hair and trimmed beard took notice of the strange newcomer and approached him.
When the bartender stood directly across from Irenicus from the other side of the bar, the man noticed how strange Irenicus looked, taking note of his blue eyes first, and then the skull cap covering the rear half of his head concealing his ears, the many veins on his forehead and the clothes he wore, which shows a little too much of his muscular build to be everyday attire, but instead of questioning the strange appearance of this stranger, the bartender decided to treat him like every other customer he has served. It is best to be polite, anyway.
"What can I get you, friend?" The bartender asked Irenicus.
Irenicus regarded the man in a mildly cold manner before replying.
"I require a glass of water, nothing more," Irenicus simply said.
The bartender raised an eyebrow.
"That all? No peach cobbler? No fig cake? No fried cockatrice leg?"
"That is all I require," Irenicus said in a flat tone.
The bartender shrugged then turned his back on Irenicus, grabbed a glass cup, filled it with cool, refreshing water and handed it to Irenicus.
"There you go, friend. That one is free, won't cost you a copper," the bartender assured Irenicus with a friendly wink.
Irenicus ignored the bartender, his blue eyes focused on the glass cup directly in front of him. As he stared into the liquid inside the cup, he couldn't help wondering if he could see his reflection if the cup was directly under his face, or would he be unable to see his reflection as if he were a vampire, even though he has taken half of Ralis' soul to sustain himself. He deftly grabbed the cup with his right hand, brought it up to his lips and drank the cool liquid, feeling the cool liquid soothe his lips and slightly dry mouth as he drank. It took Irenicus eight seconds to down the water, then he set the cup down, and turned his attention back on the bartender, who was beginning to answer a call from a half-elf woman nearby who said:
"Hey, barkeep! Another round!"
"Comin' right up!" The bartender answered then moved away from Irenicus' line of sight, going to his right.
At that moment, Irenicus came to an interesting conclusion. Instead of searching for rakshasa, he should search for an evil aligned wizard who knows how to get in contact with them. All he needs to do is cast Detect Evil, which he has not memorized today, and therefore cannot use until tomorrow, so for now he must put his objective of searching for rakshasa on hold. When the bartender came back into view, Irenicus called to him.
"Hold a moment," he said.
The bartender stopped moving and turned to look at Irenicus and went "Eh?" while curling his upper lip slightly to show a gold tooth.
"Has there been any rumors of dragon attacks lately?" Irenicus asked, marginally slowing his speaking speed so that the bartender can more easily comprehend what he said.
The bartender frowned at Irenicus and scratched his balding head.
"I don't reckon I've heard anything about dragons, friend," he reluctantly admitted then shrugged.
Before Irenicus could ask him another question, a gruff voice spoke up before he could utter a single word.
"Good fer you, old timer. I had some friends who ended up being supper fer the Flying Flame a tenday ago."
Irenicus turned his head to look at the tan skinned man who grabbed his glass of water and chugged half of it down, even allowing one of the small ice cubes to pass through his lips, then after chewing the ice cube into smaller pieces which quickly melted in his mouth, he exhaled in relief.
"Damn red wyrms, always thinkin' they rule everything..." The man cursed under his breath while lowering his head a few inches in grief and anger for a moment, then he grabbed his spoon, dug into his sweet corn and popped some into his mouth.
Irenicus knew which dragon the man was talking about just hearing its nickname the "Flying Flame". Balagos, the red dragon that is widely feared in Amn would be an ideal dragon to enlist in the assault on Suldanessellar, but Irenicus knew that because of Balagos' large ego, he would never willingly help any humanoid person, so bribery will not be effective. No, the only type of chromatic dragons that would willingly assault an elf city if they were bribed by Irenicus would be a green, black or blue dragon, all he has to do is promise them something in return, and they will accept. In theory, that is.
"What about green dragons? Or black dragons?" Irenicus pressed the man for information.
The tan man slowly turned his head to look at Irenicus while slowly chewing the sweet corn in his mouth. After gulping the corn down, he licked his lips first, then started to speak to the stranger.
"What about 'em?" He asked while tilting his head and narrowing his dark green eyes, his tone hinting his annoyance at a stranger getting too nosy for his own good.
Though his ears are hidden under his skullcap, Irenicus caught the annoyed tone in the man's question but was not intimidated at all.
"Answer my question, dog, has there been an attack by a green, blue or black dragon in the area recently?"
The man bristled, then glanced at the bartender.
"Did... did this freaky blue-eyed bastard just call me a dog?" He asked the bartender for clarification while pointing a finger in Irenicus' direction.
"Aye... he did," the bartender agreed, nodding slowly while holding an empty flagon in both of his hands.
The tan man slowly climbed down off his chair and positioned himself a few feet away from the bar, standing between Irenicus and the nearest table which is almost eight feet behind him. Irenicus maintained eye contact with the man, not even bothering to look down at the man's arms to notice that both of his hands have curled into fists. His fists were trembling slightly, signifying barely contained rage.
"I think ye owe me an apology, stranger," the tan man said in a threatening whisper.
Irenicus scowled at him in disapproval. He had no intention of bending the knee to this barbaric creature that has absolutely no significance to his mission.
"I owe you nothing, man-thing. If you continue to pester me rather than answer my question about dragons the consequences will be very severe for you."
The tan skinned man blinked his eyes once, and his face contorted into an expression of offended rage. And Irenicus had no doubt in his mind that this man is definitely going to attack him. The man pulled his right arm back in preparation to throw a powerful right hook to Irenicus' face. At the split second the man threw his fist towards Irenicus' head, he crouched down, and the fist sailed over his head, and at that exact moment he dodged the punch, Irenicus quickly thrust his right arm out at the tan man's chest with the palm of his hand up, then the bartender and everyone else in the tavern watching the commotion saw the bright arcane light of a magic missile being thrust from from the palm of his hand to cross the five inch gap between it and the tan man's body to slam into the man's chest, hitting him with so much force that he got knocked off his feet, and flew back several feet and landed on the table behind him on his back, breaking all four of the table's legs, causing the it to fall to the floor and kick up dust. Seeing this, most of the people in the tavern got so terrified in seeing a mage assault a man that they ran out of the tavern screaming, pushing each other aside so they could run out the door.
As Irenicus approached the prone man on the broken table, he heard the bartender behind him say: "You just illegally casted magic! The wizards will be all over you now!" After a six second pause, nothing happened, no wizards appeared, and the bartender looked rather confused by this when he realized no wizards are teleporting in.
"What the...? Where are those Cowled Wizard lot?"
Irenicus' nose wrinkled almost like the wrinkles prominent on his forehead the moment the name of the wizards he was forced to deal with reached his covered ears.
"Those mageling fools will no longer be a hinderance to me," he said as he continued to approach the prone man.
The bartender gasped softly, realizing what this strange man just hinted. He couldn't believe this one man had somehow destroyed most, if not all of the Cowled Wizards! As Irenicus stood over the prone man, he noticed that there is a large round scorch mark on his jerkin, close to his chest. The man is still alive, his scorched chest rising and falling slowly, but his eyes were closed, but only for a few moments. The man's eyes fluttered open and he started coughing.
"Consider your actions carefully if you value your pitiful life. Tell me whether or not there has been a dragon attack recently."
The man tried to stop coughing, and reply to Irenicus' demand, but he could not clear the itch in his throat for some reason. Irenicus could see from the man's terrified expression that he has lost his rebellious bravado and now is willing to cooperate.
"I... *cough, cough, cough, cough*... wasn't there... Only heard... *cough, cough* rumors..."
If Irenicus had eyebrows, he would raise his right eyebrow as he crossed his arms while looking down inquisitively at the prone man.
"Go on," Irenicus urged with coldness in his voice that made the man's spine shiver.
The prone man shook his head and cleared his throat while trying to get what little comfort he could afford while lying on his back on a broken table.
"I... I got a friend in the Order of the Blue Boar. He took a job that he barely survived. Nearly six days ago, he and five of his Blue Boar mercenary pals were hired to escort a caravan from Esmeltaran to Brost. When they got halfway here, near the road that leads north directly to Eshpurta, they were ambushed... by a dragon."
"How did you learn about this?" Irenicus pressed for more information.
"I'd have never known about the attack if my friend were dead. He survived the dragon attack, lucky bastard." The tan man paused for a moment to spit, and he felt some relief in seeing that he only spat a little blood, not one of his teeth. "When he got 'ere to this city about two days ago, smelling like a skunk had sprayed 'em up, he told me and everyone else he could about the attack. It was a massacre, he said. But to the black dragon... it was a buffet."
"Black dragon?" Irenicus repeated.
"Aye, according to the lucky fool that lived. He said that the black dragon attacked without warning, and it was really hungry, he too said. The wyrm ate all five of his Blue Boar pals, seven of the merchants that were part of the caravan and all eight of the horses. My buddy was the only survivor because he hid in one of the wagons and found a large ceramic pot that shattered too easily and the liquid that was inside it quickly became a gassy cloud that covered his entire body and the wagon with that skunk smell. The smell alone was enough to drive off the black dragon without taking a bite out of 'em," the tan man explained.
After hearing that part of the story, Irenicus quickly realized what was the ceramic pot that saved that man from joining his friends, merchants and horses in the dragon's belly. It was a mage shot called "Skunk Shot" that saved the man's life. Mage shot is a type of alchemical substance that is usually used as ammunition for siege weapons like catapults. Skunk shot, as the name implies, is a mage shot of foul smelling liquid stored in a ceramic pot that becomes a gassy cloud when exposed to air. The caravan was delivering small supply of mage shot to someone in this city. Maybe Amn's military is secretly planning a siege on Riatavin in response to the city seceding to Tethyr. Whatever the reason may be, Irenicus dismissed every notion he had because it has nothing to do with his goal of vengeance on Suldanessellar.
"Where can I find this black dragon?" Irenicus asked, never taking his scowling blue eyes off of the man still prone on the broken table near his feet.
The tan man blinked three times, not completely comprehending the question his ears have heard.
"What did you say?" He asked.
Irenicus glared at him for a moment without saying a word, then he spoke again.
"I asked where can I find the black dragon. Did your friend see and tell you which direction it flew off towards?" Irenicus asked irritably as he placed his right boot on the man's chest.
The man gasped, fearing that Irenicus plans on applying pressure to his boot and break his ribcage, so he wasted no time in asking Irenicus why he wants to know which direction the dragon went, and instead told him what he wanted to know.
"No, wait! He did tell me what happened after the attack! When he thought he was safe after he began smelling like rotten eggs and dead skunk, he stepped out of the wagon and saw the dragon flying south towards the northeastern parts of The Wealdath. After that he tried to clean himself off by bathing in the nearest pond. Why do you want to know?"
"My goals are none of your concern," Irenicus replied coldly as he removed his boot off of the prone man's chest, then he started to walk towards the door.
The prone man finally stood up groggily. By the time he was up on his feet, Irenicus had reached the door, but he stopped when the tan man called to him.
"I don't know why you want to go searching for a black dragon, but you are a fool to go off searching for a dragon," he said.
Irenicus paused near the door for a few seconds, but never turned around to look back at the man even though he felt the eyes of that man and the bartender looking at him.
"Do ya have a death wish or something?" The tan man asked Irenicus.
The mage tensed up in preparation to turn around and blast this irritable man with another magic missile, but after a moment's consideration, he gradually calmed down when he thought more on the man's question. No one has ever asked him a question like that before. Does Irenicus really have a death wish or not? Even he does not know the answer. He lost everything he once found worth living for. He had been betrayed by the woman he is not sure he still loves or not, and the people he once called friends and family. He is a broken man, shattered like glass, as his new surname implies.
"Maybe I do," was Irenicus' cold yet solemn reply as he closed his eyes for a moment. "I have not put much thought into it, but your question made me realize that after my revenge is complete, I have nothing left worth living for. Not in life, nor in death. Arvandor will not welcome me after what I will do."
Irenicus paused for a moment to allow the man to speak, but no words came out of his mouth, the tan man and the bartender just stared at Irenicus in complete awestruck silence for a few seconds.
"Arvandor...? But... humans don't go to that place when they die. That means you're a... But you don't look like a..." The bartender said in a loud whisper.
"I am not what you think I am. Not anymore. I am neither elf nor human. That is all you are allowed to know about me. And I have no intention of dying. Not yet. I will gain the powers of a god, and before I leave this mortal world behind, I will make sure all my betrayers go to Arvandor or the Nine Hells with the pain and guilt of wrongfully betraying me," he said before stepping out the door.
The next thing Irenicus had to do is reach the spot where the Blue Boar caravan was attacked by the black dragon, but since he used up the last of his memorized Dimensional Door spells, he cannot use that spell to reach the attack site, not without resting at an inn, at least. But time is of the essence, so Irenicus went to the Oakfather's Glen, a temple to Silvanus that looks like a large oak tree in a park near the center of the town, and used what little gold he had to pay a group of adventurers he met there- three humans, two half-elves one dwarf and two halflings, two humans, one half-elf and one halfling are women, the rest are males, to give him a ride to Eshpurta, but in reality, he is paying them to take him to the spot where the road to Eshpurta intersects with the road between Brost and Riatavin, but the adventurers he paid do not know that. He paid them 300 pieces of gold, and the adventurers, after allowing their druid companion, a human woman named Talria pray to Silvanus, departed Brost on their wagons with Irenicus in tow. The adventurers introduced themselves, of course, but Irenicus didn't bother to memorize their names, though, and he only introduced himself to them as "a mage with an important task at hand".
As the hours passed along the road, Irenicus sat in the wagon re-memorizing his best spells in preparation to face the dragon that attacked the Blue Boar caravan days ago. He was unsure of how he could convince a dragon to aid him in assaulting Suldanessellar, he would need to improvise somehow. All dragons value gold, anything they can collect to add to their treasure hoard, so that is one possible way to bribe the dragon. But there is another problem. The black dragon won't just come up and talk to Irenicus, it will likely attack him first, and this is why Irenicus is memorizing his best spells like Time Stop. Black dragons generally love to ambush prey, rather than revealing themselves and outright attacking. This is why Irenicus is memorizing mostly spells that will help protect him from harm. He has made sure that he memorized Mirror Image four times, memorized Stoneskin three times, and memorized Project Image twice. He also had to make sure he had the components necessary to cast some of his memorized spells. For example, he had to make sure he had plenty of granite dust to cast Stoneskin, and he double checked to make sure he still had a miniature doll designed to look like himself in his component bag in order to cast Project image. The other spells he memorized are meant to cause harm to those attacking him. By nightfall during the first day of his departure from Brost, he fell asleep as the adventurers he paid to transport him to Eshpurta continued moving down the road without stopping. A group of gibberlings tried to waylay them, but the adventurers were prepared for an attack like this, they fired arrows and crossbow quarrels at each gibberling while still riding on their horses and riding as a lancer on the wagon carrying Irenicus. Only three gibberlings were left alive as the adventurers moved past them, and they did not dare to chase after them, fortunately.
The next morning they were halfway to the road that leads north to Eshpurta, and from there the ride was mostly uneventful, however, the adventurers had to stop for a brief moment to relieve themselves behind the trees near either side of the road, and eat the apples they brought along with them. They offered Irenicus an apple, but he politely refused their offer even though he felt mild hunger pains in his stomach. Since he believes he will become a god soon, he feels he should learn to ignore his mortal needs since a god does not need food and water to live, or so mortals think.
In the morning of the third day since their departure from Brost, they finally reached the intersecting road. If they continue east, they'll reach Riatavin in less than three days. If they take the new road north, they'll reach Eshpurta in six days or less, depending on how long they take their breaks and resting hours.
"Well, here we are," announced Dannis Bowling, the human arcane archer who is the leader of his adventuring party, slowing his horse to a stop when he saw the branching road going north, and a signpost next to it that has an arrow shaped board of wood pointing up the road with the word "Eshpurta" carved into it, and there is two more boards of wood on the signpost, the other pointing up past the branching road with "Riatavin" written on it, and the last board pointing back towards Brost with the word "Brost" carved into it.
Dannis craned his head left, looking over his shoulder to look back at the wagon transporting Irenicus being flanked by the two half-elves on horseback.
"Hey! Wake up, o' important mage! We're halfway to your destination! Only a few more days left until we reach Eshpurta. The war against the Sothillisian armies messed up Amn pretty bad, y'know. Be glad that they laid siege to Murann instead of Eshpurta, otherwise I'd have to turn down your money. My party is not equipped to fight an army," Dannis called to Irenicus as his companions on their horses came to a stop.
Irenicus stepped out of the wagon for his boots to touch the dirt road the moment Dannis called him. As soon as his boots hit the semi solid dirt road, he surveyed the landscape first even though Dannis continued to speak to him about the Sothillisian War, as if his presence and voice is non-existent for a brief time, he even ignored the half-elf woman near him on her horse. When Dannis was finished speaking, only then did Irenicus notice Dannis, staring straight at him with his cold blue eyes.
"Contrary to popular belief, arcane archer, I have already reached my destination," he said.
Dannis raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh?" He went.
Even his companions displayed their confusion at Irenicus' words.
Dannis shook his head. "Maybe I didn't hear you right. You said that you wanted to go to Eshpurta, right?"
Irenicus crossed his arms.
"Yes, I did, but the truth is I have no business in Eshpurta. My true business is somewhere in the wilderness south from here," Irenicus said, pointing towards the forest of sparse trees, where there is no road.
Dannis and his party looked toward the direction Irenicus was pointing at for a few seconds, then they looked at him in bewilderment.
"Sounds like somebody has lost their marbles," one of the halfling adventurers said.
"He's crazy! Dannis, tell this idiot there is nothing over there but animals big and small and magical and who-knows-what-else!" The only human woman in the party said.
Dannis sighed while shaking his head.
"Friend, there is nothing over there," he tried to tell Irenicus, but the mage raised his right hand at chest level, signaling Dannis to shut up.
"I don't want to hear any more objections from either of you. You performed your duty well, you have been paid well, and now this is where we must part ways."
Without waiting for his escorts to utter a single word, Irenicus headed for the forest south from the intersecting roads as Dannis and his party watched him leave, too speechless and too confused to know how to respond to this mysterious man's actions. Irenicus disappeared behind the first tree from Dannis' point of view, and only then did one of his party members dare to say something to the strange mage.
"If ya get into trouble, don't come lookin' for us!"
Irenicus heard the shout, but he ignored it as his boots stomped through rough terrain littered with small twigs, little patches of grass and a few dead leaves that still remain from the Autumn of the Year of the Tankard.
Irenicus wandered the forest for what probably felt like three hours. He walked with confidence and no fear, even though he had occasionally heard the sounds of nearby animals and a predator tearing the flesh of some hapless prey they've caught. From what he knew about black dragons, they like to set up their lairs in swamps, jungles and marshlands. Given Amn's climate, there are no jungles here, but there must be a swamp not too far from the road. Question is, how deep into the wilderness must he go to find it? Minutes to an hour passed, and Irenicus noticed that the farther he ventures away from the road that connects Brost to Riatavin and Eshpurta, the less bumpy the terrain gets. At first the terrain had mounds here and there with a few boulders and trees and other flora, but eventually he reached a part of the forest where the soil seems to be gradually growing less solid.
That is a good sign, it could mean that he is nearing a swamp, the perfect place to go if he wants to find a black dragon. Just to make sure the dragon does not catch him off guard, Irenicus cast Stoneskin on himself, sprinkling granite powder on himself so that his body will take on a grayish hue, then he pulled out a scroll from his miniature scroll bag and studied the Protection from Energy scroll, a spell that will protect him not only from acid, but also cold, fire and electricity. Normally the spell requires the symbol of the caster's deity or divine focus. The downside to this is Irenicus does not worship any god, but as one of the gifted spellcasters in the Realms, he has found ways of bypassing some of the necessary components of casting a spell. All he needs to do is perform the verbal and somatic components needed to cast the spell, and then add a new somatic component to finish the spell without using a holy symbol or divine focus. Once the spell was complete, Irenicus could already feel the arcane energies running up and down his skin even though he couldn't see them. But he felt satisfied that the casting of the spell worked without a single hitch. No other mage has ever successfully bent the rules of casting certain spells. It goes to show that Jon Irenicus is one of the most powerful mages in the Realms, if there is any other besides Elminster.
About 46 minutes later, Irenicus noticed that the ground around his boots are beginning to get more and more wet, a sign that he is nearing the outskirts of a swamp. He wasn't sure if this particular swamp is the lair of the black dragon that attacked the merchants being escorted by the Blue Boar mercenaries, but he needed to make sure. A dragonfly flew past his left ear, the sudden sound of its buzzing wings as it flew past made Irenicus blink his eyes and turn his head ever so slightly towards the direction of the noise, but he did not flinch, or even scratch his left ear. He watched the dragonfly fly ahead of him, disappearing into the swampland ahead, and Irenicus casually followed it, being sure to stay on the driest land possible, and not step into the swampy waters. But when he found there is no more dry land to step on, he cast a spell on himself that allows him to walk on water as if it were solid concrete. All he needed to do is perform the verbal and somatic components, he needed no special item to complete the spell, and even if he did, he would find a way to bypass the need for it.
Irenicus found that navigating through the swampland wasn't as difficult as he initially imagined. Each step he took on the surface of the water, which is covered with algae, the liquid would send ripples, parting the algae away from Irenicus' boots and revealing pockets of clear, dark freshwater swamp. He navigated around tree after tree while keeping a sharp lookout for any creatures that would do him harm like a crocodile or alligator. There were alligators in the swamp, but they made no attempt to come near Irenicus, possibly because they knew they'd never catch him unless he falls into the water where he would be most helpless. In addition to this, he encountered no monsters, no lizardfolk, nothing, a sign that he must be closer to the dragon's lair than he expected. Animals know not to trespass in the territory of an apex predator like a dragon. Although the noon winter air chilled him, Irenicus never slowed down, he felt determined to find this dragon and enlist its help. However, little did he know, in the waters of the swamp, just 17 yards behind him to his right, between two thin swampland trees, a partially submerged head of a black dragon is watching him and stalking him.
Thirteen steps afterwards, Irenicus paused near a log floating in the water. He couldn't help but notice how there are no sounds of insect activity going on in the swamp. Everything is almost dead quiet except for the gentle lapping of the waters beneath his boots. Why would a swampland be so deathly quiet? The idea came to him almost immediately. It is because something is stalking him. Something bigger than a crocodile and alligator. And it may be behind him. Irenicus paused for a moment, feigning ignorance for a few seconds, then he quickly turned around with his right arm stretched out and launched a magic missile at whoever is behind him. The ball of arcane energy hit the dragon partially submerged underwater 11 feet behind Irenicus, but all he did is flinch, and he did not make a single move even though Irenicus saw the magic missile hit it, saw the large frill on top of its head protruding from the water.
"Do you take me for ignorant prey, wyrm? I am nothing like the mercenaries you attacked days ago," Irenicus said to the black dragon.
He saw the black dragon snort, and bubbles blew out from its partially submerged nostrils, then the dragon brought its head up out of the water. Irenicus watched and marveled as its head arose, causing the water that was once around it to fall down in a brief torrent and then in droplets, dripping off the horns protruding from the sides of its head pointing forward. So far the dragon's head and the upper half of its neck were exposed, but its entire body remained underwater.
"Hmph. Obviously you are more perceptive than most," the black dragon said grudgingly, its masculine voice revealed to Irenicus that the dragon's gender. "And here I thought you would be easy prey. It is not often a human mage comes to my domain seeking me out."
"I am not human. I never was," Irenicus corrected him.
The dragon tilted his head to the right in confusion.
"Then what are you, strange one?" He asked.
"That is none of your concern. All that you need to know about me is that I am called Irenicus, and I am here to bargain with you," Irenicus replied.
Again the dragon looked confused.
"You came all this way to bargain with me...? Why? What do I have that you want?"
"Your strength as a dragon, of course. Need I have another reason?" Irenicus asked with a slight shrug.
There was something in the strange man's tone that the black dragon did not like. He lowered his head down towards Irenicus, bringing his head so close that Irenicus' body odor became pungent in the black dragon's nostrils.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't eat you instead," the black dragon challenged with a low growl behind his voice.
Irenicus did not flinch or cower, though he could smell the acrid stench of acidic bile bubbling up from the dragon's closed mouth, he stood his ground with his muscular arms crossed.
"Why settle for one small meal when I can offer to you hundreds, maybe even a thousand?" Irenicus offered.
He saw the dragon's eyes widen in surprise briefly, then the dragon withdrew its head away from Irenicus, allowing it to stand upright in the air.
"Is that what you wish to offer me? Enough food to make my belly swell and burst?" The dragon asked slowly with caution in his voice.
Irenicus shrugged. "Alternatively I would give you all the gold I have, which apparently isn't enough to satisfy your need to expand your treasure hoard, but I feel that allowing you to devour the elves of Suldanessellar is payment enough," he said.
Then he smiled at the thought of the elven people that betrayed and exiled him meeting their end at the claws and teeth of this intimidating adult black dragon. They treated him like a heap of dung when he was known as Joneleth Icarus, so it is only fair and poetic justice that they actually become the piles of dung that they really are after their remains pass through this dragon's digestive tract.
Life may not be fair to those with innocent goals, Irenicus thought. But fortunately it provides interesting opportunities to those seeking revenge.
Confusion is now written all over the dragon's face, Irenicus could clearly see it despite the dragon's intimidating appearance. Clearly the dragon is wondering why would this lone humanoid give a dragon permission to attack an elven city?
"You amuse me, Irenicus. You are giving me an offer that I find very difficult to refuse. It has been difficult for me these past few decades to find food that is of the civilized races. Contending with other dragons can be bothersome, and I find that elven meat has more flavor than human meat." The dragon licked its tongue with the vivid thought of crushing elven bones and flesh in his maw, tasting fresh, raw elven blood and meat. Then he looked back down at Irenicus.
"So do we have an agreement to a temporary alliance, dragon?" Irenicus asked after instinctively sensing enthusiasm swelling in the dragon's emotions.
The dragon slowly smiled, showing all of his teeth.
"You have piqued my interest, Irenicus. My name is Nizidramanii'yt. What is it that you need me to do?"
Irenicus smirked. He expected negotiations with a dragon like Niz to be difficult, he never expected the dragon's hunger to be a major factor in bargaining for its service. The fates are somehow, for some reason, very kind to him this day.
"The job I have for you is simple. In the city known as Suldanessellar, there is a special tree in Swanmay's Glade known as the Tree of Life. I must reach that tree, and after I am there, I need you to make sure no one follows me to that tree. There is a special item called the Goblet of Life that opens the path to the Tree of Life. I want you to guard the Goblet of Life, consume anyone that tries to confront you in a vain attempt to obtain it."
Nizidramanii'yt didn't utter a word for a while, thinking over Irenicus' task. After a few moments of consideration, the dragon finally spoke.
"... You need me to protect a magical cup while you conduct your private business at the Tree of Life? That is all?" Niz asked in curiosity and slight disappointment.
"And in return, you will have the complete freedom to consume anyone that gets in your way," Irenicus added.
Niz slowly nodded his head, and Irenicus thought he saw the dragon smiling, but he couldn't tell because from his position, Niz's left horn partially obscured his sharp tooth-rimmed lips, then Niz started laughing. Irenicus didn't know what the dragon found so funny, but he dared not to ask.
"I don't like the job... but I like the rewards! I agree to your terms, Irenicus. When do we attack this city of elves?" Niz asked.
Irenicus wagged a finger at the dragon.
"Be patient and conserve your hunger, black wyrm, there is another task I must do before we act. I must return to Brost and find a way to recruit the rakshasa to aid my cause. You wait for me in the forests south from the city," he said.
Niz snorted. "You wish to recruit the two-legged tigers to help you attack this city of elves? Is my presence not enough?" He asked.
Irenicus shook his head slowly. "No, your presence alone will not be enough to keep the armies of Suldanesselar busy. Now, I must depart before my magic wears off. I do not wish to swim my way out of this swamp."
Nizidramanii'yt nodded. "Very well, be on your way, Irenicus. I will be waiting for you in the forests of The Wealdath south from Brost."
Irenicus nodded in agreement then got started chanting the verbal components needed to cast Dimension Door. A magical portal opened up in the space to Irenicus' left just 3 feet away from him, then he stepped through the portal to find himself in the unoccupied restroom of a tavern in Brost. Now all that is left to do is to figure out how to get in contact with the duplicitous outsiders known as the Rakshasa, and recruit them to aid in the assault on Suldanessellar.