Road Trip to the Dragon Isles - Return of the Green-cloaked Mercenary

TWO DAYS AGO...

Garek Uth Fane swung down from the saddle on the green dragon's back. He had just spent the last few hours riding from Pashin to Ak-Krin. Dozens of Khurs gathered along the main path leading through the village. Batu Khan was at the front of the group.

"I see someone got my message," the horseman laughs. "What is the rest of it worth to you?"

Garek frowns, "I am not here to bargain. Tell me where the Solamnic is. My... ride," he nods his head in the direction of the dragon, "hungers. I will allow him to feed on your people if I do not get the answers I seek."

Batu smiles, "You could do that. But if that happens, then I can promise you that I will be the first person your dragon must slay and I am the only one who knows where your knight is heading."

The two men stare at each other for a minute. Garek shakes his, "You must be insane."

Another laugh from the Khan, "Not at all. I just respond more readily to bribery than threats."

Garek laughs, "I think you may be the only honest man I have met in this country."

Batu shrugs, "I think it saves time. Everyone knows exactly where I stand. Pay me, get what you want. Don't pay me, make it harder on yourself."

The pair quickly negotiate a mutually agreeable sum. Coins change hands. "Your quarry is in Ak-Baral, or soon will be if he hasn't been killed by the dangers roaming these lands. He is bound, eventually, for the Dragon Isles. I have the words from his own lips."

"And where is this Ak-Baral?" Garek begins climbing back aboard the green wyrm.

"Where the north end of the Khalkists meets the desert," Batu replies while counting his coins.

"If you are lying, I will be back," Garek tells him.

"Yes, yes, I wouldn't expect anything less. That is why I always tell the truth," Batu quips.

With that, Garek leans over and tells the dragon where to go. The great beast spreads its wings and takes to the sky.

Hours pass. Miles melt away. On dragonback, the trip is swift and the dragon lands just outside of Khuri-Khan 

Garek turns, "Thank you. I will take it from here." The dragon inclines its head, "Are you sure? You said that a Silver dragon was with the knight when he attacked your camp outside of Pashin. I long to taste the blood of a metallic once again."

The mercenary adjusts his green cloak. "Very well, but remain out of sight. We don't want to announce your presence and scare them off."

Garek enters the palace and is brought before Highlord Salah Khan. He explains that he is in pursuit of a Knight and a Silver Dragon who takes the form of a woman. Salah nods, "They were brought before me and I released them. One of my men follows them now. Take this, find my man and tell I sent you. Together, you may be successful."

Garek departed and with hours, his dragon mount was landing outside of Ak-Baral. The mercenary watched Arthur and Agnes as they entered the city and waited for Salah Khan's man to arrive. The pair settled in to wait and were at the gate as Granite led the group out of the city.

"Let them travel for awhile. We do not want interference from anyone within the city."

19 Newkolt 349 AC

The night at the Ak-Baral is quiet. The proprietors are a pair of sisters, Misheel and Dulgunn, are in their early fifties (probably). Dinner is simple, consisting of thin mutton slices fried in oil and potatoes with onions prepared in a like manner. The stableboy, their grand-nephew, a lad of only thirteen winters brings hot water up for the bath and quietly excuses himself afterwards.

The beds are wooden pallets, stacked with multiple blankets for padding, are surprisingly comfortable and the smell of incense permeates the entire building. Another male relative, whose name nobody manages to catch makes a few laps around the ground, before retiring to his home across the road for the night.

Phineas manages to talk Altan into hauling his Across-the-Plains-inator up the stairs before locking barring himself in his room to fiddle with the settings on the devices that serve as his weapons.

And lastly, Davaa makes his way to the market to see about hiring replacement guides for himself and Altan. He returns two hours later, and tells Arthur that he has someone lined up who will meet them in the morning, a dwarf known as Granite Shalecutter.

20 Newkolt 349 AC

The next morning, the group rises and makes their way downstairs. A dwarf, gray of hair with the sides of his head shaved and his beard gathered in a jeweled clasp waits for them. His clothing, from his blue trousers and fur-collared jacket with the sleeves rolled up, his broad leather belt and wrist bands, to his crisp, white shirt convey a sense of quiet confidence. He carries an aroma of vanilla and pipe smoke, not the sooty or smoky odor of one who labors at a forge all day. He looks up from the tea he shares with Misheel and Dulgunn and smiles broadly. Rising to his feet, he extends a hand to Davaa.

"Good morning to you, sir. I pray that you forgive my early arrival, I have many duties to attend before I hit the road."

Davaa shakes the dwarf's hand, "It is no problem, I assure you." The Khur turns to Arthur and Agnes, "I present Granite Shalecutter, he will be your guide through the northern desert."

Arthur extends his hand to the dwarf,  "Name's Arthur. This is Agnes. Pleasure to meet you." He gives a firm shake. "We just need to get a few more supplies and we will be ready whenever you are."

Granite nods. "I'm ready now. Have to strike while the iron is hot."

Phineas interjects, "I am Professor Phineas von Blorfinstein, at your service."

The dwarf nods, "That’s no edge off my blade." He looks over to Arthur. "He coming too?"

Arthur looks Phineas over. "He was useful in a fight and he has some interesting inventions so, for now, sure. Any recommendations on what we may need to bring with us?"

Granite raises a doubtful eyebrow when Arthur declares that the gnome was useful in a fight. After a moment, he answers, "Food. Water. The week will be naught but desert, followed by three days of a nigh-impassable forest of cacti. Once we reach the plains on the far side, we'll be able to gather potables from streams and ponds - safe enough to drink after a good boil. Also, sell your horses, get some camels. They carry more and drink less."

"Will do." Arthur sells the horses, buys a pair of camels, extra waterskins and food, also some healing supplies. He returns to Granite in less than two hours. "I believe we are all set."

Altan and Davaa make their goodbyes with Altan thanking Agnes for telling him about the gods. Davaa thanks her for saving his life. Both promise to keep her "secret", having figured out that her spellcasting was just a ruse. Both guides thank Arthur. "If you ever need anything, call, and we will come as fast as we can."

Granite clears his throat, "Moss is going to start growing on my stones if we don't get a move on."

"Take care of yourselves, Davaa, Altan." He smiles, "Don't break that sword anywhere." He mounts his camel, "Ready when you are, Granite."

A flick of the reins sets Granite's camel in motion. Arthur's and Agnes's fall in behind the beast of burden as it trudges down the rocky slope from Ak-Baral toward the sandy desert below. Phineas unpacks amd starts his Across-the-Plains-inator and falls in at the back of the line. The camels groan and grunt in protest to the unnatural machine's presence but a steady hand from their riders keep the recalcitrant beasts in line.

After winding back and forth down the hill for the better part of an hour, the four travelers reach the bottom. As they head north, rocky grounds starts to give way to sand. The city fades into the distance.

"Nine days, Arthur," Agnes says. "We were with Altan and Davaa for just nine days but it felt much longer. I hope they make it home safely."

The group makes their way into the sandy desert. They start winding around sand dunes, sometimes urging the camels up one side and back down the other, but always continuing north. At the tops of dunes, Granite will pause, staring into the distance to gage the party's location and make minor course corrections.

Close to noon, a dark speck appears high above. That speck grows steadily larger and lower as minutes creep past. Agnes lets out a sharp gasp and calls out, "Everyone, take cover!"

Granite turns, a scowl creasing his face. "Take cover? What for? Why...?" The dwarf’s voice trails off as he realizes what that speck is... a dragon!

Ag'nesallynn leaps from her camel and gives her camel a smack, sending it running away from the pending battle.

The green circles lower and lower, finally landing about one-half mile away. Two men disembark and, with the dragon following, start walking toward the group.

Arthur recognizes both men. The first is one of those priests he has seen preaching about immortality and the glory of Chemosh. The other is the green-cloaked mercenary.

"Damn necromancers," Arthur keeps himself levitating for the time being and moves forward a bit to put some distance between himself and the camels before stopping and looking to Agnes, "One day, just one day without bloodshed would be nice."

The green-cloaked mercenary yells to the group, "You have led me on a merry chase! You wouldn't believe the favors I had to call in to get here. Return my sword, and I'll let you go."

"Well, that is impossible, you see, I gave it away along our travels." He readies himself, "I had no use for the sword."

The green dragon chuckles while the cloaked mercenary's jaw drops. He stands there for about five seconds trying to decide if Arthur is telling the truth. His eyes scan the levitating paladin, searching for his lost weapon. "I-I-I..."

The dragon growls, "I can kill the metallic now, yes?"

It's the priest of Chemosh who replies, "Yes. I can question them afterwards."

Granite looks over at Arthur, obviously confused. "What's going on here? You know these people?"

"The stammering one was stealing from the innocent so we took that money gave it back. I took his sword instead of killing him and gave the sword away. The thing that calls himself a priest is a necromancer which is wrong on all levels and the dragon I haven't met so... I know one, have seen the other, and don't know the dragon. And I have feeling that since they flew all the way out here and I don't have his sword anymore so they are now gonna try and kill us as revenge and the creepy-looking one will use necromancy to try and control us afterwards." He lets out a sigh. "One day, just one day of normal travel is all I want."

Ag'nesallynn chuckles, "Nice job summing all of that up, My Knight. And these are all normal days, some are just more exciting." She quickly assumes her draconic form.

Granite looks at Arthur with an incredulous expression, "You GAVE AWAY a magical sword? Is financial irresponsibility a regular thing for you? Because I have some swampland in the Plains of Dust I can sell you."

"Well, to be fair at the time of me giving it away I didnt know how magical it was. And depending on the type of swamp land it could be valuable for cultivating specific hard-to-find herbs. We are getting off topic now." Arthur turn to the dragon, the necromancer, and the babbling mercenary, "Alright, so whats it gonna be, we can be peaceful about this or do it the other way."

Phineas looks pale. "I should have kept that teaching job in Palanthas..."

The mercenary recovers his wits, having finally wrapped his mind around the idea that the knight standing across from him on the battlefield gave away a sword more valuable than entire riverside inns built on the docks of a prosperous city, and shouts, "ATTACK!"

Arthur concentrates on his helm, activating its power and teleports over to the necromancer, drawing Lawbringer and bringing it down in a brutal swing. The holy blade flares with seething radiance as it crashes against the evil cleric, sending him staggering forward.

Phineas drops from the saddle of his Across-the-Plains-inator and hefts his Shock 'N' Awe-atron. As his hands fly across the dials and levers, steam begins hissing out of the seams where metal meets metal. As the whine builds to an almost ear-splitting intensity, he slams the lever forward. Lightning flashes and thunder roars. The white-hot bolt leaps across the desert and strikes the green dragon but instead of blasting a hole in the wyrm's scales, it bounces off, angling up into the sky and dissipates harmlessly.

Granite curses, "SANDSTONE!" He leaps away from the gnome, his ears ringing from the blast of the lightning weapon. He mutters, "Sgiath" and a disk of glowing energy appears before him as he reaches for the hammer tucked into his belt.

The priest comes a stop and turns, pulling a flask from inside his robes and downs the contents. The wound across his back, while not fully healed, does begin to close. He laughs contemptuously, "Ha! Some knight, attacking an unarmed foe from behind! You little banner of bone and vows. So polished. So certain. You kneel to a god who promises endings—honorable, tidy endings—while mine keeps the ledger forever.”
He steps closer. The air chills.
“You think courage is a shield? I have watched courage rot. I have tended it. Your oaths will loosen, your prayers will crack, and when your heart finally stutters, my lord will still be listening. He listens best at the end.”
A laugh, dry as soil.
“Strike me down, if you must. Your arm will tire. Your faith will fray. But death? Death is a door I leave ajar. When you fall, you will rise—not as a hero, not as a martyr—just another quiet servant who finally understands.”
He bows, mockingly reverent.
“Hope is a luxury of the living, knight. And you have already spent it.”

Hopelessness washes over Arthur and his allies. Despite not casting a single spell, the priest's words cut to the heart of a primal dread - that if any of them should fall in this battle, their corpses will rise as puppets of Chemosh and be turned against their companions.

The mighty green dragon, Emerald Shade, shakes off the tingling sensation left behind by the ineffective lightning and leaps at Ag'nesallynn, teeth bared. The smaller silver drops to her right, rolling out of the larger green's path. She swipes with her left foreclaws but they scrape along his scales without finding purchase.

The green-cloaked mercenary, Garek Uth Fane, hefts mace and shield, coming at Arthur from the side. The First Paladin of Malazzar sees him and twists around, blocking the weapon while narrowly missing a riposte with Lawbringer.

Agnes rolls to her feet and jumps onto Emerald Shade. A flurry of claws and wing strikes rain down on her veridian foe, opening some shallow scratches in his scales.

Arthur throws a glance in the mercenary's direction, "I should have killed you you back then." He concentrates, fighting through the sense of impending doom, striking at the priest of Chemosh again and again. Heaveny light flashes each time the holy blade strikes the undeath-worshipping cleric, sanctified silver sears the corruption of the necromancer's soul and he falls in a heap, smoke rising from his wounds.

The professor levels his lightning hurler once again. He points the weapon at the green dragon, his hands twisting knobs and pulling levers as the weapon powers up once again. Another blast of lightning echoes across the sand and strikes the jade behemoth. And once again, the bolt fizzles harmlessly, unable to pierce the scales of the great beast.

Phineas calls out, "My boy, I have reason to believe that your assistance shall be required to quell this particular threat."

Granite mumbles something under his breath and a loaded crossbow appears in his hand. He plants the stock in his shoulder, sights down the quarrel and squeezes the trigger. The crossbow bolt leaps from the weapon and strikes the mercenary in the shoulder. He grunts in pain and staggers back a step as blood begins flowing down his arm.

Emerald Shade flips Agnes off of his back and rips into her with fang and claw. Wings bash her face and she starts to stumble away just as the green dragon's tail comes around and crashes into her neck. Ag'nesallynn's head is driven into the ground, cracking the stone beneath her.

Dazed, she lifts her head and unleashes a cone of freezing breath at her larger green foe. The blast catches Emerald Shade in the chest, covering the scales with a layer of ice.

Arthur looks at the green dragon and invokes the power of his helmet once again, this time, appearing above its head. He drops onto it its head and drives downward with Lawbringer. The holy blade flashes as it cracks the dragon's scales.

Phineas, realizing that his lightning is doing nothing to slow the green dragon, takes aim at the mercenary instead. He fires off yet another shot from the Shock 'N' Awe-atron. The blast catches Garek off guard, knocking him off of his feet and back several feet.

Granite ratchets back his crossbow and loads another bolt. He takes aim at the mercenary and fires again but Garek manages to raise his shield in time to block the missile.

Emerald Shade grits his teeth, forcing himself to concentrate on his magic. After a moment, the dragon speaks, "You must be absolutely sweltering in that armor. Why don't you take it off and go find a shady spot to rest?"

The words, laden with compulsion, wash over the paladin. "It is awfully hot," he thinks to himself. He starts to sheath Lawbringer to free up his hands to start loosening the straps on his breastplate when he catches sight of Ag'nesallynn, stretched out on the sand, blood flowing freely from her wounds. The vision shocks him back to reality and he screams in defiance, shaking off the mental assault.

The dragon bucks beneath him, tossing the Lankhmarite off of his back. Arthur hits the ground beside the wounded silver.

Garek's anger boils over and he rushes Phineas. The gnome shrieks in terror as the fighter runs toward him. Garek's mace slams the inventor in the chest, blasting the air from his lungs.

Agnes pushes herself up onto her elbows and lunges, snapping her jaws shut on one of the green dragon's front legs.

Arthur keeps his assault up on the emerald-scaled dragon. He hammers at the dragon's chest with his holy blade, splitting scales with the fiery steel. As the dragon roars and turns its gaze upon him, he leaps up and plunges his sword into its eye. The orb boils and explodes, showering Arthur with goo.

Phineas scrambles backwards, trying to get away from the mercenary and his mace. The gnome tries to twist the dial on his Shock 'N' Awe-atron but the warrior's heavy weapon crashes down on his shoulder. A sickening SNAP fills the air and thr inventor screams in pain as he falls.

Granite picks his way forward and fires his crossbow at Garek's back from less than fifteen feet away. The bolt sinks deeply into the mercenary's shoulder, causing his fingers to go numb and nearly dropping his shield.

The half-blind dragon kicks loose from Agnes' grip on his leg and takes to the sky. He opens his mouth and a cloud of poisonous gas pours out. Everyone on the ground is completely engulfed. The warriors below inhale toxic fumes. Their eyes burn, their skin instantly erupts in blisters, and they fall to the ground, gasping for breath.

Garek crawls out of the cloud, nearly blinded by the acidic vapor. He tries to scream but is overcome by a fit of coughing that causes blood specks to cover the sand.

Ag'nesallynn bursts from the cloud, unaffected by corrosive gas and barrels into Emerald Shade from below. Teeth and claws tear into the enemy dragon's underbelly while her wings pummel the side of its head.

Arthur rises from the acidic cloud, his shield carrying him skyward. Through burning eyes, streaming with tears, the First Paladin of Malazzar slices across the veridian scales covering the dragon's throat.

Granite hefts Phineas' unconscious body onto his shoulder and staggers blindly out of the cloud. Even with his dwarven resistance to poisons, he struggles against the caustic, airborne venom.

Garek crawls over to one of the camels and pulls himself up into the saddle. He gives the reins a quick snap, urging the beast into motion.

The green wyrm's agonized scream comes out more like a gurgle, its throat split open by the holy blade. It lashes out with his claws but Arthur twists in mid-air, avoiding the talons but his evasive maneuvers lead him straight into the dragon's maw. Teeth snap shut, piercing one of the knight's arms and both of his legs.

Agnes crashes into Emerald Shade from his blind side, sinking her teeth and claws into the wyrm's wings.

Arthur can feel the dragon's teeth digging into the bones of his legs. He fights through the pain, focusing his will and commands his helm to teleport him one last time. He vanishes from the dragon's mouth and reappears on the back of its neck. He raises Lawbringer and screams, "DIE YOU DAMN OVERGROWN LIZARD! GRANITE, SHOOT THE ONE RUNNING AWAY IF YOU CAN!" He drives the blade down between the dragon's shoulders. The green howls in agony and drops from sky, crashing headfirst into the sand. Arthur is thrown from the dragon's back and plows into the earth as well.

The dwarf drops Phineas and raises his crossbow. He fires off a shot, striking the mercenary in the back again. Garek slumps forward in the howdah and nearly topples from his seat but manages to hang on.

Agnes swoops down on the fleeing mercenary, snatching him in her claws and yanking him off the back of his stolen camel and tossing him into the air. He crashes down in the sand, landing with a bone-snapping thud on his back and driving Granite's crossbow bolt deeper into his back. The tip bursts out of his stomach and he lies still, bleeding out into the desert sand.