January 2nd-9th, 4991.

As the players began making the first moves for the Throne, I decided that, since the quick route to any two points is a straight line, the best way to gain some much needed legitimacy was to find the Eye of Onyx. An ancient Animus-enchanted piece of jewelry passed down from Queen to Queen, it's been said to grant blessings upon those deemed "worthy" of ruling the Sandwings, and anyone who had it was seen as the true ruler of the Kingdom of Sand.

Now, I was rather skeptical of the supernatural aspects ascribed to the Eye. I was a dragon of science, after all - anything I couldn't examine, experience or quantify was highly suspect. There hadn't been an Animus seen in many, many years, and at that time I felt that Animi were mythological beings, their "magical abilities" being either exaggerated strength and intelligence or completely made up. Even so, if I could find the Eye, Burn could find herself leapfrogging all the way to the lead.

The problem was, where WAS it? The Eye had pulled a vanishing act, seemingly disappearing into the dunes following the death of Oasis. Sandstorm, the False Heir, had spent much of that week searching the sands around the Palace, but to no avail. This of course didn't help her standing one bit, as the Court came to see this as a tremendous waste of time on her part.

I knew that Oasis was the last dragon to have the Eye before she died. I was also certain that if I could properly examine her corpse, I could find the necessary clues to find it. The only problem was, ironically, the dragon I was doing it for...


"You want to do WHAT?!" Burn roared, towering over me. I held my ground - I'd been around her enough to find the right balance between subservience and confidence.

"My Queen," I explained, "Don't you think it's a little, well, convenient, that your mother - one of the toughest, strongest dragons either of us know - just happens to be found dead, killed by a scavenger of all things? And that she was found in such a way that you were the first one on the scene?"

The Sandwing Princess squinted suspiciously at me. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that maybe there's more to your mother's death than meets the eye. I mean, would it really be that out there for Blister to have her killed off in a sneaky, cowardly fashion? You know she doesn't have it in her to take on an enemy directly."

After a moment, she nodded and looked away thoughtfully. "...Yes. She's far too clever to do things in an obvious fashion."

"Exactly," I continued, "And if I found something that could implicate your sister in her death, or better yet, find a clue that could lead us to the Eye, wouldn't that be worth a quick examination that NO ONE will know about? Think of how awful she'll look, and how everyone will be so happy you proved her to be a traitor and a monster." And I meant it, mostly. It was one thing for a Princess to kill her mother or aunt in a glorious duel for all to see, but to have her secretly poisoned or off was as low as you could go for a Queen.

"And what if you're wrong? What if you damage her?"

I smiled, and shrugged. "Never let it be said you aren't a teacher, Your Grace. After all, how different is a mortician from a taxidermist, really? They both make dead bodies look pretty..."


In the end, Burn relented and allowed me to better investigate the body. The problem was, the body was being laid in state, with Royal Guards keeping a close eye on the old queen during the day. Furthermore, Burn was adamant that the examination be exterior only: her body was NOT to be damaged in any way. Thus, I had to resort to a quick, cursory examination late at night, to determine the source of Oasis's death, and any indication where the Eye of Onyx could be.

The resulting examination was rather underwhelming. The spear to the heart obviously killed her, the various cuts and bruises along the rest of her body being really superficial. There were no indications that she had been poisoned, or received a mortal wound before she confronted the scavengers. My findings were almost identical to what I had determined the night she died... save for one, crucial detail. Curiously, the old queen's mouth had swollen at an alarmingly large rate, as one would see in a patient suffering from severe dental infection or oral cancer. Odd, considering Oasis was in the peak of her health upon her untimely demise. I had a hunch, but with the limited time I had, I couldn't act upon it.

Not that I wasn't the only one still having trouble that week. Flame wrote a letter to the Princes, trying to convince them to support Blaze. I say "Letter", but it was really more like a hastily-scribbled note less than a hundred words long, basically saying that they should support her because she's pretty and kind and because they worked with her every day. The Boys... pretty much ignored it. "If he's not going to put in any effort to convince us," Scald told me, "We're not going to put effort in getting mad at it." Furthermore, Ambassador Otion had apparently failed to secure Queen Coral's outright support for Blister during this time, which made many (Blister in particular) question why he was still here.

Tanwen, meanwhile, was being a busy little lady. Every day, she'd go out into the markets and work stalls, where she talked to many merchants and craftsdrakes about how much better Blister would be over her sister. Burn was a "sadistic killer" after all, and Blaze supposedly canceled a deal with a prominent merchant because she was wearing more jewelry than her. Whether the rumors were true or not didn't matter, as she was able to turn the overseer of the markets - an old Sandwing named Gold-Tooth - to Blister's side, as he said the Kingdom needed a Queen that ruled with "Wisdom, not Capriciousness". Suddenly, the Civil Service were becoming a little more leery of supporting us, and Burn's greatest allies were starting to turn lukewarm on us.

On top of this, the bandits were getting more brazen and bold in their activities. On Thursday night, there was a commotion as the Royal Guard caught and killed a spy, posing as a delivery drake. Stopping him for questioning, he tried to escape only to be impaled by a pair of spears, and bled out in the sands outside the Palace. In his satchel were detailed notes, sketches and detailed information over our defenses. Even more alarming, there were rumors of Nightwings flying back and forth from the Scorpion's Den, perhaps indicating that they were taking a more active role in current events.

On Friday, earlier in the evening, I received a messenger in my workshop. I had just finished dinner and opened the door when I felt a presence to my side.

"Best not make any sounds," A deep and gruff voice cautioned, "Or you might find something stuck in your throat. And don't turn to look at me neither."

I stopped, doing my best not to look in the direction of the speaker. I was certain I locked my window and door before I left. How did this stranger get inside my quarters?

"My employer," The voice explained, "Has sent me to offer you an alliance. Blister is our mutual enemy, you see, and on our own, neither of you can beat her. But working together, you two can upstage and defeat her. How does that sound?"

My first impulse was to say "No". Nightshade was a criminal, and at the bottom of the totem pole of claimants. I thought there was nothing he could offer that could help me, only drag us down. At the same time, I was also thinking that saying the wrong thing could result in a knife stuck in my windpipe, and the guards finding me dead in the morning. I also feared that he would know if I was lying, which left me with very little in the way of options.

"I would be... amenable to such an alliance." I answered softly, carefully choosing my words and trying not to be too loud. "However, I'm going to need to see more proof that your 'employer' can last, before I try to convince my patroness to work with him."

"Like what?" The voice asked, sounding mildly curious.

"I don't know," I replied testily, "Maybe do something that actually hurts Blister's chances? Something that proves your boss isn't going to cut and fly when things get tough."

There was a silence, then the intruder asked, "So I take it you're a 'maybe'?"

"If that'll let me live," I sighed, "And get you out of my room, sure."

"Alright then." The stranger concluded. "Pleasure doing business with you." With that, there was a rush of movement, and I turned just in time to see a dark, draconic shape fly out my window. I stomped over and locked the window, growling and steaming like an angry tea kettle. I had some very choice words for the Guards the next morning, let me tell you.

And what was Burn doing during all this? Was she trying to persuade the Civil Service to back her? Was she doing charity work for the people? Was she trying to bribe the Armies to support her? Was she trying to make inroads with her brothers, building bonds in the shadow of their mother's passing? Nope, nope, nope and nope. Instead, she was spending her time flying across the Kingdom, hunting down and torching every single scavenger and scavenger den she could find. So great was her rage and grief, that she seemed to develop a pathological hatred for the pests, and couldn't stand the idea that they were alive while Oasis was dead. I tried to get her to stop: There was all the time in the world to go out and kill the vermin after she became Queen, and I needed her to help me if we were to be successful. I was a scientist, for Spirits' sake, not a diplomat! But she wouldn't listen to me. In fact, when I confronted her about this, she briefly turned her anger on me, threatening to strike me dead where I stood.

"Stop fucking around with my mother," She growled, her stinger inches from my eyes, "And get me the Eye of Onyx! Prove to me that you're still useful!"

With the prospect of death so clear and prominent in my immediate future, my path forward became absolutely clear.

Condition 'Tallies'

Princess Blaze: +2
Princess Blister: +2
Princess Burn: -3
Guard Sandstorm: -8
Wanderer Nightshade: -18


A/N: The rolls for Turn 1 were okay. 57+18(Favor)=75 for getting Burn onboard, and 41+20(RP)=61 for examining the body. The early turns in the game are a little iffy in hindsight, the one thing I didn't like about the game overall. Part of that comes from my rustiness at doing RP/Election games, not having played in many years. It was one initiative per turn, and I didn't think to make the initiative a multi-parter, as others did. The Princesses weren't active during the game itself, and actions were determined exclusively by the players. It didn't make sense to me in regards to their character, and it's the one thing I wish Temeraire handled a little better (maybe if they had an NPC roll, as some characters got later on?). Having said that, having the Princesses go out scavenger-hunting feels like the best way to handle their absence from the early phase of the game.