A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas

Chapter 71: New Allies

Further down the path, we came to what was likely where the wrymlings we'd encountered had rested. As we approached the northeast corner of the chamber, a pile of bloodied bones at least 15 feet in diameter rested in the murky water. A glint of metal could be seen intermixed in the mess of bones. Another column of water, perhaps 10 feet in diameter, tumbled into the pool to the far right. A pair of smaller waterfalls dropped from the ceiling along the eastern wall.

The stone path terminated at a wider ledge. The ledge appeared to have been converted into a crude worship area. A crimson-stained, rough-hewn rock altar was prominently displayed. To the left was a black iron anvil inscribed with angular mithral runes that softly glowed in the shadows. Behind the altar, offset to the right in a rough niche bathed in soft illumination, was a glass dome perhaps 10 feet high situated on an ornate wooden base. Under the glass was a gnarled tree branch upon which was wrapped a magnificent feathered snake. The serpentine beast had a serene expression in its human-like milky eyes, and its rainbow-hued wings were folded along its back.

We decided to chack the bone pile first. With some amount of searching we discovered a yellow topaz, a silver belt buckle, and a unusual looking arrow which had bule and green fletching and featured three arrowheads. Further examination revealed a decent pile of silver and gold coins, a sliver necklace set with a piece of obsidian, a golden idol reaembling a bat-like creature, a finely crafted shield with a highly polished interior surface. Just as I thought that was all there was to find, Krisyra picked up on eof the bones, and looked it over more closely. A moment later, she fiddled with one end, and pulled it off, revealing a hollow interior. Inside, she found four scrolls.

Next we approached the anvil, as we got closer, the runes glowed brighter and a shimmering transparent dwarf appeared, forlornly gazing at us with hollow eyes. His face was wrinkled, behind a proud beard and a crooked nose, although the right half of his face was horribly disfigured as if from acid. Tattered bits of flesh dangled over bare bone and an exposed eye socket. Andorned in a leather jerkin, his left arm was missing at the elbow, replaced with an ornate smithy's hammer.

"Who disturbs my rest!?" said the ghost.

Charles stepped forwards, and looked the spirit over.

"I recognize that symbol," said Charles, "you are from Clan Ironshaper, correct?"

"Ironshaper?" said Verrax, "I remember name… they were brought low and their hold was destroyed by the Green Dragon Chlorothra centuries ago".

"You know of my clan?" said the ghost, "you certainly are a strange group… traveling with that wyrm!"

"I am sorry to learn what happened to your people," I said, "but I am not to blame for what happened, it was well before I hatched".

The dwarven ghost looked me over, and sighed.

"Aye, you're not the one who did it," said the ghost, "Chlorothra is… and that beast still draws breath".

"Perhaps we could help you in some way?" asked Narcrath.

"I can think of twp things you could do for me," said the ghost, "one, return this anvil to my people".

"I'm sure that with some research we could find a descendant of the Ironshapers," said Verrax, "what else would you have us do?"

"My other request is simple: slay Chlorothra, for what he did to my people," said the ghost.

"I doubt he'd allow us to leave without conflict at this point anyway," I said, "yes we will aid you. You… don't mind if we leave the anvil here for now, right? I'd rather not have it encumbering me while we'd engaged in combat".

"That's acceptable," said the ghost, "name's Thorovar Ironhand, by the way. Now, let's get going".

"Just a moment, we still need to investigate that," I said indicating the glass dome.

We moved closer, and Verrax flew right up next to the glass, looking it over carefully before reaching his conclusion.

"Just as a thought, it's a Couatl," said Verrax, "it must be under some sort of spell holding it here".

"Can it be freed?" asked Narcrath.

"Most likely, we just need to remove this glass cover," said Verrax

With some effort, my companions worked together to remove to dome. After a moment, the couatl seemed to wake up, and seemed disoriented. It was a majestic feathered serpent coiled around the gnarled branches of a severed tree limb. Its plumage was fiery red at its tail, but softens to brilliant iridescent blues and greens on its folded wings.

As it finished waking up it quickly glided down to check behind the pedestal it had been on, and seemed confused.

"Excuse me, what are you looking for?" I asked.

The couatl seemed to focus on me, its forked tongue tasting the air.

"Oh, greetings," said the couatl, "my apologies, I just felt I needed to look back here for something. Where are my manners? You may call me Xitlalcotl".

I remember the odd man we'd encountered earlier.

"You wouldn't happen to know someone calling themselves Cozca, would you?" I asked, "he was looking for someone he called Xitlal".

"Has it been that long already?" said Xitlalcotl, "My kin knew what I planned all those years ago, and would be ready to find someone to retrieve me from my the result of my own cleverness"

"You're the shaman we're looking for, aren't you," said Verrax, "the one who went to confront the dragon!"

"Indeed I am," said Xitlalcotl, "a century ago, I came to this place because I foresaw the downfall of Chlorothra, but not for many years. He had been demanding sacrifices of the people of the land, and I knew that this could not happen. Instead, I came before Clorothra myself, and offered a bargain. If got the next 100 years he did not harm the people of the land, I would remain here, as one of his prized possessions. He played right into my plans".

"What do you plan to do now?" asked Krisyra.

"You aren't quite what I way expecting, but I suppose fate works in strange ways," said Xitlalcotl, "I intend to aid you in defeating Chlorothra. I suspect there may be others ahead that could aid us as well. Let's go".

With that, Xitlalcotl was surrounded by light, transforming into an elderly human man leaning on a cane. With this new addition to our group, we continued deeper, heading towards where Chlorothra awaited.

A/N: And there we go! New temporary additions to the group! Thorovar can possess someone's weapon, enhancing in and adding his power to the attacks. Xitlalcotl can, of course use any of the abilities inherent to being a Couatl, including a nice selection of restorative spells. Anyway, Next time, our heroes continue deeper into Chlorothra's lair, to see what other hazards might reside here... as well as those in need of help. See you then!