| As you begin to walk through the plaza towards the temple, your attention is drawn to a leather harness that by chance has been set aside next to the beautiful dragon statue. It appears sized for a horse but some momentary bolt of genius strikes through your smooth brain.
You call to Tarak who you see standing across the way speaking with Agga.
"MORNING TARAK! ANYONE USING THIS?" you bellow, holding the saddle up and grinning a tusky grin.
|
| "What? Oh. You folks. Good morning. Uhhh, no, I do not believe so. Myla had designs on using it for parts, but if you have a use for it I'm sure she'll not begrudge you." |
| "Excellent."
You fiddle with the straps for a moment, undoing some buckles and connecting them to unintended spots. When you finally grunt with finality, happy with your work, you turn to Moonsprout.
"Come here, Bard."
You are now carrying Moonsprout.
|
| "Wheeeee!" |
| You all make your way up to the temple to answer Runara's summons.
|
| The elderly priestess turns and smiles warmly as you all arrive. Her kind eyes fall upon each of you, as if weighing your accomplishments to this point.
"Thank you all for coming so quickly." she begins.
"You've done much to aid us here at Dragon's Rest since your fortunate arrival, and I cannot thank you enough for helping those trying to find peace. You've proven yourselves to be benevolent, even if perhaps little misguided."
Her gaze lingers on both Aims and Short for a moment.
"But I now trust you are prepared for the larger challenge ahead."
Runara takes a few steps further backwards away from you, widening the distance.
"As I said, there was something I wanted to show you."
Lightning starts to crackle around Runara's figure, quickly outlining her in a brilliant white/blue glow.
There is a silent flash of lightning, and you're temporarily blinded by the burst of light inside of the temple.
You blink to refocus your eyes.
When your vision returns, the human woman is gone. Your gaze tracks up from where Runara had been standing, up higher, until you meet eyes with the Adult Bronze Dragon in her place. The regal creature's scales glisten like warm honey in the morning sunshine.
The dragon's tail crackles with electricity and it coils around the grand reptile's legs. It sits back on its haunches and, in a sense, smiles.
"Do not be alarmed. You now see me in my true form. I did say there was more to this island than first appears."
"As you have discovered, this island has many old wounds. And I'm afraid the cycle of violence is starting again. I have one more favor to ask you."
Runara recaps some of what she'd already told you.
"In the first days of creation, two families of dragons came into being. Bahamut, the noble Platinum Dragon, made metallic dragons - gold, silver, bronze, brass and copper. Cruel, five-headed Tiamat made the chromatic dragons - red, blue, green, black and white. The metallic and chromatic dragons to this day share a mutual animosity that originates in the enmity between Bahamut and Tiamat.
The origin of this very island stems from that eternal conflict. Ages ago, a fire-breathing red dragon named Sharruth rampaged up and down the Sword Coast. Three metallic dragons joined forces to battle Sharruth and imprisoned her beneath the ocean floor, believing seawater would quench her fire and keep her bound forever. But Sharruth's fury, legend says, caused the undersea volcanic activity that formed Stormwreck Isle.
In all likelihood, Sharruth is long dead and entombed beneath the island, but chromatic dragons whisper that she still lives and will one day emerge from her prison. One fact is undeniable, the powerful magic embodied in such an ancient dragon left a permanent mark on this land."
The bronze dragon turns to look out over the ocean for a moment, her eyes narrowing as memories come to the fore.
"That magic has drawn other dragons to the island throughout the centuries, making it a recurring battlefield in the conflict between chromatic and metallic dragons. Several of these dragons have died here, leaving behind a spiritual scar that causes unpredictable magical effects. The sites that you visited to aid our residents were but a few of the sites where such dragons fell in battle.
A hundred years ago... A blue dragon tried to harness this destructive magic. I pleaded with him to abandon his schemes, but he refused. In the end, I had to end their cruelty. I added one more dragon grave to this island.
I've grown weary of strife, and the wounds of this island are a constant reminder of the cost of such conflict. I established the cloister here at Dragon's Rest as a safe haven from violence."
She pauses for a moment, taking in your slack-jawed expressions following her transformation. Runara clears her throat gently, which comes with a small crackle of static sparks.
"A few months ago, a bronze wyrmling named Aidron came to the island and studied with me here at the temple. Five days ago, we argued about the importance of peace above all else, and he angrily stormed away.
I now fear he went to the ancient observatory on the South East side of the island, which is another dragon's final resting place. I suspect some evil has arisen there, but I dare not go there myself, lest my presence reopen old wounds..."
The dragon reaches a large clawed hand towards her chest, and retrieves a small object from between two scales. She reaches down and carefully hands it to Zesty. It's a 3-inch long, 1-inch wide hexagonal prism made from moonstone, with a dragon's head engraved on one end.
"You'll need this key to access the observatory. Do keep it safe."
With that, the dragon settles and awaits you response to her request.
|
((Words.
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}. Gotta meet with Myla.
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