A/N: WHAT'S UP MUCKACHUNGAS!? It's Traves here, and I am coming at you live to bring you all a new chapter, and with a huge update for this story! So I don't know if any of you noticed, but I'm going back and re-editing my previous sessions, thanks to my rethinking of a few things, for Durgaul'Nergahl, and I hope you guys will like the changes I made. Anyway, this chapter is a continuation of the Previous Session, plus, while we are still in the Red vs Blue Arc we're getting closer and closer to dealing with the Big Boss of this Arc, but also, thanks to the month coming to a close, I am going to decide that, in the next chapter, we will be entering the First Part of the First Character Arc of this Campaign, the Four Horsemen Arc, the Arc for Damosarion. So I am hoping that you guys are going to be excited for the upcoming side-story that will be taking place here!
Anyway, I don't have much to explain here today, so let's get right into the chapter, so that's enough out of me! Please be sure to Follow, Favorite, Review, and Share this story with anyone you know who likes Dungeons and Dragons Content! Catch ya on the Flipside! NAT 20!
Session 4: I'M RICH, WITCH!
Eryn wakes at dawn the morning following the attack by the Half-Dragons, and finds something adorable awaiting him, a young Genasi woman resting against Durgaul on the floor, a blanket and pillow keeping her warm as a small mattress of pillows are laid out for her to sleep on. He smirks and… With the grace of a cat, sneaks into the hallway and makes his way downstairs, smiling as he walks to the group, who are all enjoying a nice breakfast. "Morning everyone!"
"Oh, good morning Eryn!" Evolyne, the Tiefling Bard of his team, says, smiling as she waves her hand.
"You look like you have been charred by hellfire, my friend…" Nevermore says.
"I feel like it… My skin still stings… What happened? Did we win?"
"Yes we did, it seems the righteous indignation of your draconic friend had inspired the others to fight with a great and terrible rancor upon seeing you nearly fall in battle." Nevermore says, sipping his black tea, "I can attest to that, though I should not have lost control of my inner darkness…"
"You tried to save me, Nevermore… I couldn't ask for a better friend!"
"Humph… I am thankful…" Nevermore says.
"Yeah! And speaking of which, the team actually managed to find the Hideouts of those Half-Dragons and actually managed to win something from them! Turns out those three bullies had amassed enough wealth each to rival that of 3 Dragon Wyrmlings!" Evolyne explains, smiling. "And they were terrorizing this town in order to find a location to stash their hoards right beneath the very noses of the people!"
"Seriously!? Why in the middle of a town!?" Eryn asks.
"Well I think one of their journals said "the closer their hoards are to danger of being stolen, the farther they are from harm, and that is the last thing anyone would expect"!" Evolyne explains, "And to be honest, I can see the logic in it!"
"Same here, I would never think of a dragon hiding it's hoard in the city, and these half-breeds had actually stashed them in a location nobody goes near." Nevermore says, bringing out a map, "An abandoned church on the edge of town, each in different locations across the church's grounds! Since there are nine of us, each of us had to decide to search the church for the hoard, but with you out of commission, we thought it would be rude to search without you."
"That sexy-ass tiefling guy of theirs said that once you woke up, we'd split into teams, and each team would go around the grounds to find the hoard." Evolyne explains, to which Eryn rolls his eyes, and they hear yawns as Durgaul and Ember walk down the stairs, and join the rest of the group for breakfast. Once everyone has had their breakfast, they decide on the teams:
-Team A: Durgaul, Eryn, and Fiona
-Team B: Damos, Ember, and Nevermore
-Team C: Longclaw, Mina, and Evolyne
Finding the Old Church takes some doing, having to get directions from the local priesthood, but they manage to guide the adventurers to the Old Graveyard. As it turns out, the Old Chapel actually used to be quite the refuge, that is until the Half-Dragons rolled in and burned the place down. It's thankful that the Priesthood managed to restore it partially to what it was, but due to the tyranny of the half-dragons, the repairs were never completed, and any looters who got in probably picked the place clean. Longclaw, looking down, finds a decent spot beneath a tree and brings out the wrapped body of Ghost, despite the burned appearance of the place, the tree still bloomed, and Longclaw gently places his little friend's corpse inside the hollow beneath the tree, crying. However, that is when… He feels the bundle moving, and much to the shock of the group, the bundle opens to reveal Ghost, fully healed, and back to how he was, only part of his right horn has been melted away, whilst his body is covered in angry red markings, indications on where he had been hurt the most. Tears erupt in his eyes again as Mina and Evolyne look with joy as Longclaw picks up Ghost. "How is this possible?"
"I am a Priest of Klauthym, sir, and it is known that Drakewarden Rangers are capable of resurrecting their fallen dragons by sacrificing a part of their power or resting for a long while before gaining the strength to do so without impediment." The Priest says, "However, this is only possible so long as you remain alive… In the words of one of the Oldest Drakewardens: "A Warden will live on if his Drake is killed, but if a Warden dies, then so does his drake"." Longclaw smiles as he howls happily, using Thaumnaturgy to make sure everyone can hear it.
With renewed spirits, the group enters the unfinished church, finding the door isn't locked, for some reason, but also, it appears there were no traps either… "Did these bastards truly not fear any thieves or bandits coming in and stealing their treasure?" Longclaw asks.
"Hmmm…" Mina says, thinking… "If I remember correctly from my training, Half-Dragons are generally stronger than the average human, but they wouldn't leave their hoards out in the open… If I were a betting woman, I'd say they hid their hoard somewhere on the grounds here, and made sure to leave the church as it is to ensure it was left in the shape it was so it could be ignored, whilst the hoard itself is located in a part of this place that we wouldn't think of looking." Everyone nods to that logic and begins to look around…
Team A:
Starting with Eryn, he decides to search the library, wondering what books could've survived in here, and what treasures were abandoned in this place of knowledge. Looking around… Eryn can't believe his luck as he finds a bookshelf that seems to be completely unharmed, for some reason… Pushing a book back into place, just to satisfy a pet peeve, he notices the bookshelves slide open to reveal what appears to be a hidden office, and on the desk, he happens to find 4 objects on it… What appears to be a small mirror about 12 inches long with a gold metallic frame, whilst carrying a smooth and polished obsidian surface… A Gold Ring set with bloodstones… A Cloth of Gold Robe… And a copper chalice with silver filigree. Eryn smiles as he looks at these objects and puts them in his bag, but is a bit curious about this mirror, in which, when his finger gently touches the surface of the obsidian, it appears to light up, and creates an image of the continent, and… After fiddling with it a bit, he smiles big as he realizes it's a magical object known as a Marauder's Map! These Rare Magical Items are hard to create, but they are highly valuable! The group could definitely use this!
With Fiona, she makes her way towards the Attic of the Church, finding that the fire damage had done a bit of damage to the attic, but she does see that the repairs that were being done had managed to leave a good number of thick beams for her to tight-rope across. And… Thankfully, her vampiric senses cause her to spot a number of chests on the other side of a tight-walk, and with a smirk, she gently steps onto the beam, and begins to walk across… Unfortunately the board begins to feel slightly shaky… And thankfully, she manages to hold out her arms and stops her footsteps to regain her balance. Thankfully, she begins walking towards the other side… Making her way to the chests, she examines each of them… Finding only one of them trapped, but they also have some pretty tough locks on them… Deciding to disarm the trap first and unlocking that chest, she sees the Trap appears to be connected to a spike trap in the chest. However, this is child's play as she manages to disarm the trap with her picks and causes the spike's spring to launch, but with a sleight of hand, she manages to prevent the spike from launching even with the trap released.
Thankfully, after unlocking all three of the chests, she manages to find a grand total of 660 Silver and 50 Gold. "Brother!" Fiona calls from the rafters, to which the Priest looks up, "I think I found your church's funds! I'm going to bring them down!"
"Oh thank you!" The Priest says, smiling.
With Durgaul, deciding to investigate the Graveyard based on his new name, he looks in sorrow at the graves that have been neglected thanks to the Half-Dragons terrorizing the town and preventing the priests from doing their duties. However… His draconic eyes spot what appears to be a large mausoleum, standing out from all of the other gravestones, in which the dragon makes his way as he looks to see there is a large door that appears to have what appears to be a rune on the door… They appear to be inscribed with a riddle in draconic…
I am Hot and I am Cold…
I am White and I am Dark…
I am Stone and I am Wax…
My True Nature is Flesh…
And my color is Red…
What Am I…?
Thinking on this for a bit, Durgaul carefully ponders the identity of this riddle's subject, and it takes him a good few minutes of comparing his notes, but then he smirks. "You are the Human Heart!" Durgaul says, smiling as the door begins to creak, and slowly the doors open, releasing a gasp of air as the wind flows through it once again. Much to Durgaul's surprise, thanks to his darkvision, the corpses of the dead are undisturbed, and he is shocked to find that most of the dead here are Dragonborn, which is somewhat disturbing, but also confusing… "Why would Dragonborn be buried here? I know for a fact I have not seen one Dragonborn in this entire village…" He continues onward and soon the torches light up, revealing a path towards what appears to be a large vault. "Oh great… This would be Fiona's specialty, but…" He looks around, and sits down, putting his forepaws together in prayer. "I beg forgiveness for the honored fallen, if this is your treasure, and not that of the Half-Dragon who terrorized the town, then I humbly apologize and I shall leave after my curiosity is sated!"
As Durgaul finishes this prayer, he feels something brush past him that causes a chill to run up his spine, but this chill doesn't feel malevolent, in fact, it's almost feels like the honored dead are giving him permission and accepting his humility. He can just feel it in his soul as he examines the vault in front of him, and notices the doors also have an inscription upon them as well…
What is it that you ought to keep after you have given it to someone else?
Thinking harder on this one, finding it much more difficult than the one he had answered previously… 'What is the one thing you keep after you've given it away…?' Durgaul thinks, trying to remember something, but then it pops into his head, "You have my word!"
The Vault opens, to reveal what he was looking for, one of the Hoards of the Half-Dragons… However… He does notice something on the far wall of the vault, what appears to be another inscription against what appears to be a door of some kind, just big enough for him to fit through. Getting close to it, he reads…
What is the one thing many claim they own and fight to defend, yet most have none at all?
This one feels familiar to him, and he thinks back on what that riddle's answer was, but then, he smirks as he looks at the wall. "Honor!" This causes the door to open, and when Durgaul looks at what is behind, he quickly slams the door shut, and pretends he didn't see it. "That is not mine to take… It would be best if it were to remain here… Forgotten…" He then notices the dirt on the ground, and smirks as he spits saliva onto the dirt and mixes it with his claws… He then carefully applies the mud and… manages to hide the door and it's inscription with the mud. Satisfied with his work, he begins scouting out the hoard with a smirk on his face…
Team B
Damos decides to check the infirmary, feeling like Mina's advice is sound, and that he might find something interesting in the place where healers are located… Unfortunately, the burned Infirmary has only several burned cots, a number of destroyed potion cauldrons, and a broken cabinet. Deciding to look inside, Damos actually manages to find 4 Greater Healing Potions in the Cabinet, along with an Herbalism Kit and a copper cauldron that has greened with age. Not knowing why this is here, but he smells what appears to be the remnants of a stew in it, and he smirks as he thinks this might be useful.
Making her way to the baths, Ember looks around in what appears to be closets, she manages to find 4 silk robes with gold embroidery. The Genasi Tsarina looks at each of these garments, and begins to wonder how a church manages to have so many highly valuable items on hand, it's extremely odd. It's almost… Suspiciously odd…
With Nevermore, the Kenku has come to look around the back of the church, having found what appears to be a well. Deciding to run a test, he picks up a stone and drops it into the well, carefully observing to see if he can find the depth of this well. Fortunately for him, it hits bare stone on the bottom, meaning the well is as dry as a bone… Using the well's rope and bucket, he climbs down the well and slowly makes his way to the bottom, where he finds the entire thing is not only bone dry, but it appears that there is a rather dry tunnel ahead of him that leads towards something… Taking a torch and lighting it, the Kenku follows the tunnel down several feet, before… Spotting what appears to be a door that is actually hidden by what appears to be a piece of cloth that has been carefully covered in dirt, stone, and other natural elements to make it look like it is part of the tunnel's walls. Readying his fist as he pulls the curtain aside, he lifts the torch into the hidden room, and actually finds that there is a door here. Finding it unlocked, he carefully moves the torch inside and his eyes notice something sparkling… And a smirk crosses the Kenku's face.
Team C
When it comes to Team C, Mina, for some reason, goes against her own logic to examine the Abbot's quarters and office, to which she finds this place has been, for some reason, well preserved. There furnishings and almost everything is actually fully intact, the woman bringing out her crossbow as she looks around, investigating the room… And manages to find something inside one of the drawers of the desk. A bag containing 25 Gemstones, each stone being about 50 gold apiece, but also what appears to be the Abbot's Journal, and when she reads it, her face contorts with rage… And with a great effort of will, puts the journal down before letting out a roar of rage from the depths of her soul, causing what appears to be radiant energy flowing out of her with her roar. The Priest rushes over with Fiona, and the two have their eyes go wide as they see Mina's fury unleash light from within her body, causing the energy to burn a few things near her. However, the magic in the room douses the flames and the young woman collapses. The two gently help the woman sit against a wall whilst trying to figure out what is going on.
For Longclaw, he smiles as he goes to the quarters for the priests and nuns, still feeling overjoyed and feeling secured in the knowledge that if Ghost is ever killed in combat again, he can resurrect him, so long as he remains alive. In any case, as the two walk investigate the area… the Ranger manages to find what appears to be a set of silver chalices encrusted with Gemstones, whilst Ghost… he finds what appears to be a golden comb shaped like a Dragon with gemstones set into the eyes. "Good boy, Ghost!" Longclaw says, petting the drake.
As for Evolyne, she actually decides to follow Mina's advice and actually goes to the one place inside the church everybody would go to but wouldn't think a Hoard was hidden in… The Kitchen! Thankfully, whilst the place is the least obvious place one could think of to find a hoard of treasure, there is actually one obvious place one would go to in order to find it: the Wine Cellar. Thankfully, the hatch is hidden beneath a carpet in one of the rooms in the kitchen, and… Unfortunately it's locked, however, her Tiefling eyes peer through a hole in the wood, and she can see a glint of something shiny, several glints in fact.
The Party, a few hours later…
After gathering all the little treasures they had collected, the group actually reconfers, where Mina is drinking a lot of water due to her throat feeling so dry. She also shows them the journal that reveals the Abbot of this temple was actually a traitor to the Faith of Klauthiym, having turned traitor in exchange for riches. "So that is the reason why those bastards burned down the temple!" The Priest says, "Somebody must have found this evidence, and in order to drive the Priesthood away and hide the evidence, they attacked the temple, and burned it down!" The Priest says, shock evident in his voice.
"That also explains all the magical items and treasures we found!" Damos says, "These were the Abbot's private treasures!"
"Well he won't be needing them anymore!" Durgaul explains. After this everyone gathers the Hoards using several empty bags and piles each hoard into separate stacks.
For the Hoard that Durgaul found, it contained:
-7,200 Copper Coins
-3,600 Silver Coins
-240 Gold Coins
6 Mundane Items (A Battle Standard, Hourglass filled with Sparkling Sand, A Loud and Noisy Windchime, A Tarnished Brazier filled with pleasant smelling ash, Several Embroidered Pillows, and a Set of Seven Silver Candlesticks carrying the symbol of Eilistraee)
-16 Gems (Black Sapphires)
-4 Art Objects (Jeweled Gold Crown, Jeweled Platinum Ring, Gold Cup set with Emeralds, Small Gold Statuette set with Rubies)
-8 Magic Items (Bag of Holding, 4 Potions of Healing, Alchemy Jug, Amulet of the Drunkard, Tankard of Sobriety)
For the hoard that Nevermore Found, it contains:
-4,500 Copper Pieces
-2,500 Silver Pieces
-140 Gold Pieces
- 8 Gems (All Jade)
-3 Art Objects (Box of Turquoise Figurines, Carved Ivory Statuette, and Silver and Gold Brooch)
And from the Hoard that Evolyne Found, it contained:
-4,400 Copper Pieces
-2,300 Silver Pieces
-110 Gold Pieced
-8 Gems (Black Pearls)
-2 Art Objects (Obsidian statuette with gold fittings and inlay, and Carved harp of exotic wood with ivory inlay and zircon gems)
"Holy Crap!" Eryn says, looking at the hoards they had just located. "These guys seriously had hoards worthy of Wyrmlings, alright!"
"True, but I don't think we need all of this stuff…" Mina says, looking at the riches they had just collected, but they notice Durgaul getting extremely aggressive as he hears this. "Though when it comes to our resident dragon, I think he should keep his stuff." Durgaul relaxes as he hears this, to which Ember walks over to him and scratches under his chin, calming him down. "Though I think the Jade and Black Pearls, the Art we collected, and the Copper Coins should all be given back to the people…!"
"Everyone pass those over to me! I'll do a quick rundown on how much each of these costs…" Durgaul volunteers, to which he carefully looks it over the total collected items:
-A Set of Silver Chalices Set with Moonstones (750 Gold)
-Gold dragon comb set with Red Garnets as Eyes (750 Gold)
-4 Silk Robes with Gold Embroidery (1,000 Gold)
-25 Diamonds (125,000 Gold)
-A Gold Ring set with Bloodstones (250 Gold)
-A Cloth of Gold Robe (25 Gold)
-A Copper Chalice with Silver Filigree (25 Gold)
After counting all of this, he notices that Eryn is fidgeting with something, and Durgaul walks over, "What is that?"
"Nothing!" Eryn says, moving the mirror behind his back as stealthily as he can. Durgaul… Tilts his head, having sworn he saw something, only for Nevermore to appear behind Eryn and swipe it out of his hand. "Hey!"
"Compose yourself, Eryn, I am not going to break it!"
"It's mine!" Eryn says, to which Durgaul grabs his friend by the shoulder and pulls him back as Nevermore investigates this item… And his eyes widen at this…!
"A Marauder's Map!" Nevermore says, "Where did you find this?"
"In a hidden room in the Library!" Eryn says, glaring at the bird.
"I would not steal this from you, but as I am the only one here with any sort of experience with land vehicles, I think that, whilst we are driving, I use it, that way if we need to, then I can change our course if need be! Is that fair?"
"There is an extra compartment in the Driver's Seat where the map will be safe, so I think that is reasonable!" Durgaul says, "What say you, Eryn?" Eryn looks at his friend, and shakes it no, "I see there is no getting through to you…"
"The Driver's seat is wide enough for two people to sit in, so perhaps you could sit with me?" Nevermore asks, trying to be reasonable. This does sink into Eryn, and he sighs in defeat, nodding.
"Now that just leaves one problem, where are we going to stash Durgaul's new Hoard?"
"I have an idea!" Durgaul says, smiling as he digs through his hoard and actually finds a bag of holding, and… Upon closer inspection by the group, appears to be made out of an odd form leather, but other than that, they can't discern much more from this object. Despite this, Durgaul actually manages to put all his coins and his items inside of the Bag of Holding, in which the larger objects shockingly fit in nice and neat, along with all of the smaller ones.
With the Rest of their Treasure, they actually donate it to the town, allowing them to sell it to those of higher status, as well as humbling accepting the copper coins and gemstones, as they are valuable enough to be sold. Thankfully, in the next few days, a group of traveling merchants actually comes in and purchases all of that is to be sold, but, funnily enough, the Diamonds are not part of that deal… As Durgaul had managed to, somehow, slip them into his Bag of Holding without anyone noticing. 'I know this will bring the people plenty of money, but…' He thinks as he remembers seeing Eryn nearly dying due to that Half-Dragon. 'No… I won't let it happen again…' His claws dig into the ground as he bares his fangs at the thought, his eyes slightly glowing. Nearby, Ember is watching, her eyes sad as she looks over to the Dragon.
Three Days Later…
The rains have started to make the path ahead of them a bit of an impossibility as the group has traveled several miles south-east to Romania, and thanks to the flooding of a nearby river, and a bridge having been destroyed, the group is being forced to take shelter near a cave until the rains pass. Durgaul is resting inside the mouth of the cave, listening to the rain as he attempts to relax, wondering what could possibly happen next. "Having trouble relaxing?" Ember asks as she walks over to him, smiling.
"Yeah, I am just feeling a bit on edge…" Durgaul says, to which Ember scratches the back of his head, and the dragon purrs at her touch.
"Well considering the Material Realm you came from is relatively safer than ours, I am sure just about anything might put you on edge, especially after you became a Dragon…" Ember says, looking at him. "Do you think things will get better?"
"I hope so… Besides, I want to be able to find some place to settle down and possibly build a lair of my own." Durgaul says, looking at her.
"Well I am hoping we manage to figure out how to kill this Red Dragon soon… I don't want Mina's people being terrorized by such a creature much longer." Ember says… However, that is when Durgaul stands up, turning around and smells something. "Whats wrong?"
"Do you smell that?"
"Smell what?" Ember asks, taking a whiff of the air… But then catching the scent of it too…Smoke, coming from within the cave, and the two slowly make their way deeper in, and seem to find what appear to be some sort of tunnels… Tunnels that seem to contain the smell of smoke and what can be caught as incense of some kind. Slowly adventuring in, the pair makes their way deeper into the cavern… Only for them to hear the sound of footsteps behind them, Ember about to shout but then they both see it is Eryn. "Eryn!" Ember whispers, "What are you doing here!?"
"I saw you two leaving, and I thought I'd come with you, just in case you needed some magical aid!" Eryn says, smiling, to which the two of them nod, and the group continues forward, eventually finding an incline, which reveals to them what appears to be a Young Red Dragon sleeping upon a hoard of treasure…! However, that is when Durgaul turns around, hearing something… and it turns out to be the rest of their crew, but… Unfortunately, Damos's foot kicks a stone and it skips across the ground a bit. The Dragon… Remains sleeping for now, but Durgaul… Jumps down the small cliff to land on the ground around the hoard, but unfortunately, his claws scrape a small pile of coins, and the Dragon roused from sleep.
"Well well well…" The Young Red Dragon says, "Looks like we have a group of unlucky adventurers coming to steal my treasure!"
"We weren't coming for your treasure, we were merely seeking shelter from the storm…" Durgaul says, "I merely came to negotiate for my group and I to use the entrance of your lair to stay until the storm passes…" The Red Dragon looks at Durgaul, and can see the Wyrmling is struggling to keep his head straight in this situation to bargain for his friends, but the Young Dragon simply smirks wickedly.
"I'm going to go with NO!" The Young Dragon roars, charging forward at Durgaul, raising it's body upwards to land a strike down upon Durgaul. However, the Dragon puts too much force into the strike, and Durgaul ducks under the young Dragon's claws, the big brute crashes to the ground, falling prone upon the ground. "GODS-FUCKING-DAMMIT!"
"Negotiations have broken down!" Damos shouts, raising his ring into the air, summoning a clawed hand above his head, whilst pointing at the dragon, speaking in Infernal, in which a flame made of dark light hits the Dragon, who snarls at the injury being dealt to it. Durgal growls as he charges in and aims for the Dragon's neck, biting down deep into it's flesh, his fangs vibrating intensely as he "digs in". Following this, Fiona slides down the incline towards the dragon and jumps at it, summoning her psychic blade as she cuts it's face with a powerful strike, attempting to go for a second, but she is too late as she slides past the dragon. Nevermore, having a sinking feeling about what is about to happen, decides to channel his energy through his body, taking the stance of the Patient Defense Technique and readies for any sort of attacks that might be headed their way.
Eryn, on the other hand, cloaks himself in his armor of eldritch energy and charges in, forming somatic gestures as he swallows a spicy pepper, a frigid mist flowing from his mouth. As he gets within range of his spell, he inhales deeply, feeling the magic building in his stomach and lungs, and unleashes it at the Dragon. The Young Red Dragon, on pure instinct upon hearing the Half-Drow breathe in deeply, flattens itself against the ground as much as he can and, by the Blessings of Tiamat, manages to barely dodge out of the way of the incoming blast of ice. "Damnedable Sorcerer!" The Dragon shouts, "I will tear you to pieces!"
"Shit!" Eryn says. Ember looks at Durgaul, looking at him with a pain in her heart, something about this situation feels wrong, and she decides to stand at the ready with her magic, and she holds her hand in prayer.
'Oh Great Spirits of Nature, please help us in this fight!' Ember prays, to which Longclaw and Ghost charge in.
"Ghost, we need to keep that thing from taking to the air, create as big of holes as you can in it's wings!" Longclaw orders ghost, who nods as the two charge in Longclaw landing a decisive blow into one of the wings and slicing it open, the burning of the acid spreading the damage a ways to ruin the wing, whilst Ghost roars as he takes a big mouthful of Wing, then kicks off, tearing the membrane open. The two kick off their target and land near their allies. Mina draws her crossbow and takes careful aim at it as Evolyne starts laughing at the Dragon.
"Well it looks like those two are just "winging it", right Damos?" Evolyne says, using her pun to mock the dragon, who, though feeling a pain in his head and nose running with blood, the Dragon roars in angry.
"Are you mocking me!?"
"No no no no no no! Psh, yeah!" Evolyne says, smiling.
The Dragon growls at this as he stands up, "THEN LAUGH AT THIS!" The dragon unleashes a cone of fire that hits Durgaul, Eryn, Fiona, Longclaw, and Ghost. Longclaw and Fiona scream in pain as Ghost is, once again, consumed by dragonfire, only this time his body vanishes into ash, whilst the two mortals are sent flying backwards, badly burned as they begin to struggle to stay alive. Durgaul and Eryn each collapse to the ground, both of them having survived the flames, Eryn having done better than Durgaul, who took the full force of the blow, and growls at the dragon as his sapphire scales look like they have seen better days. Much to the shock and horror of everyone, the burned forms of Fiona and Longclaw land right in front of Ember, who looks in shock as images of burned corpses return to her mind, the screaming of people she knew, and the smell of burned flesh fills her nostrils.
Durgaul, looking at her and his burned friends, feels fury burn within him, only for a giant spectral fist to fly at the Dragon, punching it right in the face and sending it back a few inches. Damos is growling, but rushes over to Fiona and helps Ember in healing the woman, their combined restoring her body so that she only sufferers from First Degree Burns where the Third Degree Burns were previously. Durgaul, seeing his chants, feels a surge of life force flow through him, as well as a surge of power as he jumps at the Dragon and unleashes two mighty blasts of his Breath Weapon at once, having utilized that surge of power to recharge his breath weapon immediately after the first. The Dragon screams in pain as it's internal ears begin to ring loudly, the beast stumbling as he tries to make sense of everything.
Fiona's eyes snap open as she rises to her feat without using her hands, almost hauntingly after a fashion, and her eyes glow red with anger. "THAT FUCKING HURT YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO MAKE ARMOR OUT OF YOUR HIDE!" Fiona shouts in fury, and rushes back in, this time, becoming like a whirlwind of movement as she lands two mighty blows upon the dragon with both of her Psychic Knives, the Dragon screaming in pain as blood pours out from it's eyes, nose, and mouth. Eryn, barely picking himself up, inhales deeply, and unleashes a torrent of ice, but due to the fact that he is in so much pain, he can't muster his full strength. Ember brings Longclaw back to consciousness, and he sees the pile of ash that was Ghost.
"Oh my gods…" Nevemore says, "They killed Ghoostie…!"
"YOU BASTARD!" Longclaw shouts, transforming as he rushes at the dragon again, lashing out with his talons, causing the beast to rise up on his hindlegs, Mina taking her shot and landing a mighty hit upon the creature's chest. Evolyne and Damos get ready to cast their spells as the dragon collapses to the ground, unable to move and unable to defend itself, to which it looks at Durgaul as he knows his time is at an end.
"Who… Are you…?"
"Us, we are a new company of adventurers… I think calling us Asteriskos Sapphirus has a nice ring to it… As for myself… My name is Durgaul'Nurgahl, the Honorable Dracolich who wears the Mask of Night…"
"I see… Then may your gods have mercy on you… For my father will not…" The Young Red Dragon says, laughing before Durgal slams his tail on the back of the dragon's head, breaking his neck and killing the beast. Durgaul, following his instincts, roars in triumph, and as this happens, what appears to be the music of horns and other instruments as heard, Durgaul recognizes this music as the victory theme from "Castlevania: Judgment", and as it plays, the group each finds a golden light emanating from beneath them and from within them, to which Damos smiles as he clenches his fists.
"Alright! We've leveled up!" Damos says, smiling as he clenches his fist, a smile on his face. Durgaul smiling as he feels the power flowing through him, and feels his muscles growing slightly tougher, to the point he can possibly make two attacks in six seconds without needing to rely on that surge of power he feels every once in a while. However, that is when his attention is turned to the Treasure Hoard, and he looks upon it with gleaming eyes.
The group gathers all the treasure and sorts it, having found:
-7,200 Copper Coins:
-24,000 Silver Coins
-7,200 Gold Coins
-360 Platinum Coins
-23 Sapphires
-8 Magical Items
The Magic Items that are up for grabs, Durgaul actually passes out to those he thinks needs it. Amongst the Hoard is a Javelin of Lightning, which he passes to Nevermore, a Sword Hilt of some kind, passing it to Damos, thinking he might find more use for it, a hand crossbow designed in an identical manner to that of Mina's and so he passes it to her, and finally, and Iklwa that has a magical sensation to it, which he passes to Eryn, realizing he might need it. He also finds 4 greater healing potions, and passes them out to Ember, Longclaw, Fiona, and Evolyne. However amongst the other treasures, they find a few mundane items, a star chart, a kneeling bench, a map of the surrounding area with locations that aren't on the Marauder's Map, a Sketchbook with written details, which Durgaul decides to look through later, some steel cylinders that Ember identifies the markings as treatise of Alchemical formulas, including a recipe for healing potions.
"Oh now this will come in handy!" Ember says, "I may not look it, but I know how to brew potions, but the problem is that I don't have a basic recipe for one on me, plus i need a cauldron and ingredients, but the Empire of Russia uses completely different formulas, so I don't know any from this part of the world."
"Then you will find more use out of these than we will!" Nevermore says, passing the cylinders to Ember, who nods as she begins to read, finding it funny that it is written in druidic of all things, since Druids hate using metal if they can help it. That is when Durgaul finds a religions drum, but Damos explains that Evolyne should use it, as she might be able to make some good beats with it, Evolyne blushing at this but smirks as she takes the drum. However, that is when Durgaul comes across something, a heavily reinforced glass jar with something he was hoping to never see again, even Eryn is horrified upon looking at it.
"How in hell did this dragon get one of these!?" Eryn says.
"What is that thing?" Longclaw asks, disgusted.
"This is an Illithid, or Mind Flayer, Tadpole, they use these things to reproduce… I told you all about this before."
"It's more disgusting up close!" Mina says, trying to keep her lunch down.
"I'm taking this!" Eryn says, taking it and putting it in his bag, "Even dead, an Illithid Tadpole can cause problems if it falls into the wrong hands." Durgaul doesn't argue and lets his friend take and guard the tadpole. Aside from this, they manage to find over 40,000 Coins that look identical to the normal coins in the hoard, and Fiona gets an idea with a smile on her face.
"Mind if I take those?" Fiona asks, smiling, "They might prove useful down the line!"
"Go ahead!" Durgaul says, "If you're planning what I think you are, then I like the way you are thinking!" They carefully separate the fake coins from the real ones, and Durgaul hands the fake ones to Fiona. After this, they look at the remaining treasure, which appear to be artistic garments, in which Durgal, for some reason, feels something in the back of his mind tell him about something he can do. "Hey guys, mind if I have some privacy for a bit?"
"For what?" Eryn asks.
"There is something I want to try!" Durgaul says, to which he carefully gathers up the garments and walks around to the back of the pile. The group waits for a few minutes, and afterwards, the group looks to see a human walk out from behind the pile, and he is dressed in a sapphire colored silk priest's robes embroidered with blue gold, whilst wearing over his shoulders an Embroidered silk and velvet mantle set with numerous blue moonstones, with a Silver and Blue Gold Brooch holding it closed around his neck, with embroidered glove set with blue jewel chips, specifically along the knuckles and on the back of the palms. Finally, around his neck, he is wearing a Fine Gold Chain set with a Fire Opal around his neck. However, it's the person themself who surprises them…! The person wearing the robes is tall, muscular, and it's like the garments were made just for him. He has skin that is olive in color, whilst having black hair that has brown highlights, and eyes that are the color of chocolate. He is, shockingly, an elf…
"What the…?" Everyone asks, only for the Elf's eyes to fall on Ember.
"So… How do I look?" Durgaul's voice asks from the elf, only more elegant sounding. The last thing Ember sees before darkness takes her is the blood erupting from her nose…