IC: Dragon Campaign - Wyrmlinghood

[Esprit15]

As your Mother and Father begin to wind down in their story, in the darkness you feel a sudden jolt.

No matter what may come, remember: you are strong, my child and you are noble, my little one. While we may quarrel, war, and scheme against one another, our shared heritage is what binds us, and what binds our kin.

And with that, the unison voices of your patrons fade into nothingness, and you are left alone, in darkness, cramped by walls on all sides. You can barely hear sounds around you, muffled and faint.
The voices sound gruff. You estimate four sources. You also heard a clattering sound, like something falling and its contents jostling. Lastly, you hear the unmistakable crackle of fire, though you smell nothing.
The voices sound gruff. You estimate at least two sources. You also heard a clattering sound, like wood on wood, or maybe something falling? Lastly, you hear the unmistakable crackle of fire, though you smell nothing.
You hear a slamming noise that startles you.
The darkness is disturbing after having two presences with you for what felt like years, teaching you like two feuding parents.

The darkness is cold, and the walls around you that felt protective for so long are now stifling.

If you would all mind, please make a Strength check at the end of your first posts.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa waits for a time. Maybe it was minutes, maybe hours. It was hard to judge within the darkness. Let no dragon say that he does anything hastily. Yet, after some time, the darkness begins to grow oppressive and the young dragon can not help but wonder what awaits him outside his prison. With his strength gathered, he begins the arduous process of breaking free from the shell that bound him.

Strength: [roll0]

[Deadguy]

Sotet did not mind the chill, but the lack of senses disturbed her. There were things going on. She was sure of that. But to burst forth would be disorienting, putting her at a disadvantage should it be a threat outside her confines.

Pressing her head against the side, she was still and listened more. After a few moments, she used a claw to chip away a small opening. It took more effort than smashing her once home, but gaining information was vital.


Strength Check - [roll0]
Listen - [roll1]

[Xanyo]

The voices fade and Zaratii listens. Noises, unpleasant and annoying. Her keen senses inform her the moment she wakes, and she immediately understands. It is time. Time for her to enter the world, to make herself known and claim what is hers.

Shifting and bracing, she stretches, pushing against the confines of her egg.

[roll0]

[Goaty14]

Awakening from what had seemed like forever, Kir had little time to take it all in, as a great sound (the loudest she had ever heard... which was the first she ever heard, but still!) startled her! Frightened and afraid, she began to shift around her weight and try to break free from her bounds, as weak as she may be, she could be in great danger, with something coming to eat her! :smalleek:

STR check to break free! [roll0]

[Esprit15]

Khrakoa waits for a time. Maybe it was minutes, maybe hours. It was hard to judge within the darkness. Let no dragon say that he does anything hastily. Yet, after some time, the darkness begins to grow oppressive and the young dragon can not help but wonder what awaits him outside his prison. With his strength gathered, he begins the arduous process of breaking free from the shell that bound him.

Strength: [roll0]
You push and struggle, and you feel some of the shell give. It feels like it will be easier to break out, and you can hear some more of the sounds from outside, though they are still muffled. One of the voices shouts something, but it's hard to make out. It's clearly not draconic.
(You make your next Strength check with a +2 bonus)

Sotet did not mind the chill, but the lack of senses disturbed her. There were things going on. She was sure of that. But to burst forth would be disorienting, putting her at a disadvantage should it be a threat outside her confines.

Pressing her head against the side, she was still and listened more. After a few moments, she used a claw to chip away a small opening. It took more effort than smashing her once home, but gaining information was vital.


Strength Check - [roll0]
Listen - [roll1]
You push and struggle, and you feel some of the shell give. It feels like it will be easier to break out, and you can hear some more of the sounds from outside, though they are still muffled. One of the voices shouts something, but it's hard to make out. It's clearly not draconic.
(You make your next Strength check with a +2 bonus)

The voices fade and Zaratii listens. Noises, unpleasant and annoying. Her keen senses inform her the moment she wakes, and she immediately understands. It is time. Time for her to enter the world, to make herself known and claim what is hers.

Shifting and bracing, she stretches, pushing against the confines of her egg.

[roll0]
You push and struggle, and you feel some of the shell give. It feels like it will be easier to break out, and you can hear some more of the sounds from outside, though they are still muffled. One of the voices shouts something, but it's hard to make out. It's clearly not draconic, but your gift for tonuges helps you make out snippets. 'Idiot.' 'Clumsy.' 'Cargo.' 'Head.'
(You make your next Strength check with a +2 bonus)

Awakening from what had seemed like forever, Kir had little time to take it all in, as a great sound (the loudest she had ever heard... which was the first she ever heard, but still!) startled her! Frightened and afraid, she began to shift around her weight and try to break free from her bounds, as weak as she may be, she could be in great danger, with something coming to eat her! :smalleek:

STR check to break free! [roll0]
You push and struggle, and you feel some of the shell give. It feels like it will be easier to break out, and you can hear some more of the sounds from outside, though they are still muffled. One of the voices shouts something, but it's hard to make out. It's clearly not draconic.
(You make your next Strength check with a +2 bonus)

[Eonn]

Khrakoa wonders what lies in wait for him outside. There's so much he wants to see and do, his desires re energize his efforts to break free.

[roll0]

[Xanyo]

Growling internally, Zaratii strains against her natural confinement. The noises outside bother her. Anyone should know better than to disturb a sleeping dragon.

[roll0]

[Goaty14]

More sounds! More danger! Normally Kir would think things out, but knowing so little was a scary thought by itself, much less being trapped as she was. Pushing again, she tried to make her way out of it.

Roll of claustrophobia [roll0]

[Deadguy]

The sudden loud shout made Sotet draw in, stopping her tampering of the confines for a moment. Were they shouting because they notices the egg moving? Or was there something causing a distraction that gave her a chance to break free safely?

There was no way to know. All she did know was that she was completely defenseless when confined. She couldn't even bring her breath to bear, knowing inherently that her egg was all but immune to the corrosive material. Getting out was the key to knowing what was going on. She brought fang and claw to bear against the side of the prison.


Strength Check - [roll0]

[Esprit15]

The sudden loud shout made Sotet draw in, stopping her tampering of the confines for a moment. Were they shouting because they notices the egg moving? Or was there something causing a distraction that gave her a chance to break free safely?

There was no way to know. All she did know was that she was completely defenseless when confined. She couldn't even bring her breath to bear, knowing inherently that her egg was all but immune to the corrosive material. Getting out was the key to knowing what was going on. She brought fang and claw to bear against the side of the prison.


Strength Check - [roll0]

You seem to have contorted yourself into an uncomfortable position with your struggling, and are not able to make any progress.


Khrakoa wonders what lies in wait for him outside. There's so much he wants to see and do, his desires re energize his efforts to break free.

[roll0]
You seem to have contorted yourself into an uncomfortable position with your struggling, and are not able to make any progress.


Growling internally, Zaratii strains against her natural confinement. The noises outside bother her. Anyone should know better than to disturb a sleeping dragon.

[roll0]
You struggle and stretch and then, light! Sound! Shapes! Everything is still blurry with the water of your egg clinging to your body. Around you, figures, two legs and two arms, about six feet tall. Two, four... some off in the distance, but it's too blurry to make out how many. You're in a dim place, surrounded by rock, the sounds of water outside suggesting some sort of downpour. One of the figures appears to be holding another, shouting at them. To your ears, you can understand the words, even of the sounds don't make sense. "...paid! You're lucky they haven't broken! If they-" and then they pause, turning toward the sound of cracking eggshell and... you. You're not familiar with their body language or facial expressions, but fear is easy to read. "Um... oh no, um... Everyone! They... they're hatching! They're...!" And then you notice the other dragon next to you, who also appears to have just hatched, a glistening yellowish-brown.


More sounds! More danger! Normally Kir would think things out, but knowing so little was a scary thought by itself, much less being trapped as she was. Pushing again, she tried to make her way out of it.

Roll of claustrophobia [roll0]
You stretch and force your way out, first a leg. You slide around in the egg, and crawl out through the hole into a place that is still dim and yet compared to absolute darkness is blindingly bright. You look up, and see two brownish grey... humanoids. Yes, that was what Mother and Father called them. And these ones were... orcs. Yes, grey orcs. Mother described them as a seafaring people, trading with and raiding coastal cities. But... this wasn't the ocean. You could hear water outside, rain, but these blurry figures before you were in a cave.

Two more orcs sat by a fire, and some more blurry in the distance. As water drips from your ears, your turn to back the sound of shouting. The two orcs next to you, next to a stack of brown boxes, as well as several colored "... guo otoa! Gaima ko kaor ratu e bakar! Ke te ratu-" Nonsense to you. But then they look down at you, the more aggressive grey orc shouts over to the others. "Um... Oh ka, um... Gado! Ke... ke karege! Ke ka..! and then his eyes get a sort of droop to them. "Den... ve gar ge e te gii nu..." Next to you, you notice another dragon has also hatched, this one a dull blue.

Zaratii, you hear this last bit as "But... maybe this isn't a big deal."

The other orcs by the fire are standing up and putting their hands on some sticks at their sides, but apparently more out of caution than hostility. They seem to be watching to see what you two do.

You don't *have* to fight, but for the order of how things react, since everyone was surprised.
16 -Zaratii
14 - Kirkirlym
7 - Grabbing Orc
4 - Held Orc
4 - Fire Watching Orc
2 - Other Orc

[Eonn]

Gah, this was making Khrakoa mad! He wanted out, and he wanted it now! The red drakeling began to thrash about. Damn the consequences.

[roll0]

[Xanyo]

Breaking free of her confines, Zaratii is initially frustrated with her newfound senses. Shapes and colors, unfamiliar and blurry. Crawling out of the shell, she stretches her wings and shakes herself free of the water. One thing is immediately obvious: this is a very poor excuse for a nest. She notes the presence of other eggs, and another hatchling just emerging, of another color. What sort of mongrel clutch... She focuses on the two-legs. A lesser race, but perhaps with answers for her. She hacks, spitting out eggwater and stretching her lungs. Then she speaks, the proud rumble of Draconic.

"You had better hope you can tell me why I've hatched in such an unsavory location," growls the blue wyrmling, sparking at the mouth, "And then you better feed me or be fed upon."

She stretches her limbs, settling into a crouched stance. Ready to pounce.

Readied action to breathe if they act aggressively or the other dragon initiates hostilities. I'm not going to use an action for any of my charisma skills. I'll let them decide whether to pick a fight. Assuming any of them even understand me.
30' line of lightning, aiming at any, multiple targets if they're lined up
[roll0] electric damage, Reflex DC 15 for half
Refresh: [roll1]

[Deadguy]

Sotet heard more talking. She wanted to know what was going on outside. Even more than that, she wanted to not fail at getting out of this home turned prison.

Who ever heard of a dragon not being able to hatch!

The black wyrmling hissed in frustration and strained again against the confines that had refused to grant her freedom thus far. It was bad enough that she would not be in the expected nest of acidic water. Voices wouldn't be heard there. She must have been abandoned. Or stolen!


Strength Check - [roll0]

[Esprit15]

Sotet heard more talking. She wanted to know what was going on outside. Even more than that, she wanted to not fail at getting out of this home turned prison.

Who ever heard of a dragon not being able to hatch!

The black wyrmling hissed in frustration and strained again against the confines that had refused to grant her freedom thus far. It was bad enough that she would not be in the expected nest of acidic water. Voices wouldn't be heard there. She must have been abandoned. Or stolen!


Strength Check - [roll0]

You shake and struggle. Panic! Will you ever escape this shell!?

Gah, this was making Khrakoa mad! He wanted out, and he wanted it now! The red drakeling began to thrash about. Damn the consequences.

[roll0]
You feel more of the shell give, but not enough!

You gain an additional +2 to your escape check.

Breaking free of her confines, Zaratii is initially frustrated with her newfound senses. Shapes and colors, unfamiliar and blurry. Crawling out of the shell, she stretches her wings and shakes herself free of the water. One thing is immediately obvious: this is a very poor excuse for a nest. She notes the presence of other eggs, and another hatchling just emerging, of another color. What sort of mongrel clutch... She focuses on the two-legs. A lesser race, but perhaps with answers for her. She hacks, spitting out eggwater and stretching her lungs. Then she speaks, the proud rumble of Draconic.

"You had better hope you can tell me why I've hatched in such an unsavory location," growls the blue wyrmling, sparking at the mouth, "And then you better feed me or be fed upon."

She stretches her limbs, settling into a crouched stance. Ready to pounce.

Readied action to breathe if they act aggressively or the other dragon initiates hostilities. I'm not going to use an action for any of my charisma skills. I'll let them decide whether to pick a fight. Assuming any of them even understand me.
30' line of lightning, aiming at any, multiple targets if they're lined up
[roll0] electric damage, Reflex DC 15 for half
Refresh: [roll1]

The two humanoids by the fire sit in surprised silence for a second. The one grey creature that was shouting at the other, now with a dull look in its eyes, lets the other one go and crouches down toward you. In the same gruff voice before, now quite calm, it speaks to you in a language that you know is not Draconic but nevertheless can understand. "I'm sorry little lizard. I don't... understand what you're saying." The tone is neither frightened, nor angry, nor friendly. It's simply quite calm.

[Deadguy]

Imprisoned by the thing that brought me life... Dead before even truly being alive. NO!

Sotet continued to twist and thrash, scratching at the interior walls of the shell with her tiny claws furiously.


Strength Check - [roll0]

[Eonn]

From outside, Khrakoa's egg jerked and shuddered as the little dragon continued to thrash around within. Maybe a more careful and steady approach would have been better for freeing himself, but Khrakoa was more concerned with doing the most damage possible to the shell.

Let's see if I can get it this time. [roll0]

[Xanyo]

Blinking, Zaratii looks around, turning and seeing the other hatching eggs. Many colors, a mongrel clutch. She hisses in annoyance.

"You seem to have pulled me from my rightful nest and don't even have the decency to learn to speak with me," the wyrmling growls in Draconic, "I ought to just kill and feed on you, and sort things out from there." Then, considering the other wyrmlings, she reaches for her natural gifts, the gift of tongues. Just a few straightforward concepts to communicate: "Where. Why. Food."

There. Simplicity in communication. Even savages should be able to get the gist.

[Esprit15]

Blinking, Zaratii looks around, turning and seeing the other hatching eggs. Many colors, a mongrel clutch. She hisses in annoyance.

"You seem to have pulled me from my rightful nest and don't even have the decency to learn to speak with me," the wyrmling growls in Draconic, "I ought to just kill and feed on you, and sort things out from there." Then, considering the other wyrmlings, she reaches for her natural gifts, the gift of tongues. Just a few straightforward concepts to communicate: "Where. Why. Food."

There. Simplicity in communication. Even savages should be able to get the gist.

The humanoid looks at you confused. "We're in a cave waiting out a sudden rainstorm on this island. We were hired to run a delivery from the north to the south of these gems... I guess they weren't gems." As you mention food, one of the humanoids by the fire shoves something behind theirself.

[Goaty14]

Kir, very unsure of herself and what to do, first took the moment to stretch herself - the egg was oh-so cramped, and this change in space was just what she needed. Plus, these "humanoids" would get to see what a true dragon looks like, and gaze in awe at her graceful form.

Finishing her stretch, and unaware of the linguistically-challenged people before her, she spoke "That was a very very long rest, but I am now very very hungry. Do not mind my siblings; we are simply starving for food". With that, Kir looked expectantly towards the humanoids, waiting for an answer.

I would roll diplomacy, but they don't understand draconic, so it's a no-go.

[Esprit15]

From outside, Khrakoa's egg jerked and shuddered as the little dragon continued to thrash around within. Maybe a more careful and steady approach would have been better for freeing himself, but Khrakoa was more concerned with doing the most damage possible to the shell.

Let's see if I can get it this time. [roll0]
Your careful approach pays off, and you finally free yourself from your shell, lungs feeling air for the first time ever. Around you, the area is dimly lit, a crackling fire nearby and a dull light in the distance, coupled with the sound of rain. Near you are two humanoid creatures, tall and grey, and two more sit by the fire, staring intently. It seems the two already hatched dragons are speaking to them, though the blue seems frustrated.


Imprisoned by the thing that brought me life... Dead before even truly being alive. NO!

Sotet continued to twist and thrash, scratching at the interior walls of the shell with her tiny claws furiously.


Strength Check - [roll0]

Your panic and struggling finally frees you, and you find yourself in a dimly lit cave, the sound of torrential rain some distance away toward dull light. Next to you are several creatures much like you, save for different colors - blue, red, and gold. Just beyond them are two humanoid creatures... Grey Orcs, as you recall from The Story. An oceanfaring people, supposedly, but why were they in a cave then? A little further away by a fire sit two more, both staring intently at the other dragons that are not pulling themselves from eggshells. The gold and blue dragons are speaking to them, though the blue seems frustrated.


Kir, very unsure of herself and what to do, first took the moment to stretch herself - the egg was oh-so cramped, and this change in space was just what she needed. Plus, these "humanoids" would get to see what a true dragon looks like, and gaze in awe at her graceful form.

Finishing her stretch, and unaware of the linguistically-challenged people before her, she spoke "That was a very very long rest, but I am now very very hungry. Do not mind my siblings; we are simply starving for food". With that, Kir looked expectantly towards the humanoids, waiting for an answer.

I would roll diplomacy, but they don't understand draconic, so it's a no-go.

The grey orc looks at you, then back at the dragon that can clearly speak its language, as though asking for a translation.

[Xanyo]

Zaratii speaks to the Gold kin in Draconic. If the two-legs didn't bother to learn the noble language, they didn't get to understand what they say to each other.

"These ingrates are uneducated, sister. They know not our dignified tongue, nor even a dragon's egg when they see one. Or several. I indicated my own hunger and they seem reluctant to provide. I was considering simply killing and eating them, but there are some more at the mouth of our confines. More than a clutch of hatchlings could be expected to devour."

Then she returns her attentions to the humanoids and speaks in tongues.

"Dragons hatch hungry."

Again, minimal words. They had yet to prove to be worth more.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa shakes the last shards of his egg off of him, then takes a moment to regain his poise after his temper tantrum. He looks around the room an sneers.

"What kind of degeneracy have I hatched into? The slave-beasts can be explained, but why are you three in my nest?" His wings droop as his eyes go wide. "You're not my clutch mates, are you? I can't be some mutt!"

[Esprit15]

Zaratii speaks to the Gold kin in Draconic. If the two-legs didn't bother to learn the noble language, they didn't get to understand what they say to each other.

"These ingrates are uneducated, sister. They know not our dignified tongue, nor even a dragon's egg when they see one. Or several. I indicated my own hunger and they seem reluctant to provide. I was considering simply killing and eating them, but there are some more at the mouth of our confines. More than a clutch of hatchlings could be expected to devour."

Then she returns her attentions to the humanoids and speaks in tongues.

"Dragons hatch hungry."

Again, minimal words. They had yet to prove to be worth more.

The humanoid looks at you carefully as you speak to your ally. Dull though they may be, he does read your body language and tone surprisingly well for a lesser being. “There’s a wide jungle out there of food. But I suppose you and your kin are not yet able to fend for yourselves...” He stands upright and in a calm tone, looks over to the two nervous humanoids by the fire. “Mua, Kalla, let’s leave the little ones a single crate of food. We should have enough for the rest of the trip. And make sure we demand more from those Tabaxi when we deliver the rest. Gems are one thing, but dragons? That’s more dangerous than I want to take on.” The two seem... shocked, but nod, still watching you now four, cautiously, especially as the red dragon begins speaking so loudly and appears agitated.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa snarls in disgust. "What kind of slaves are these? Do they not know a proper language?"

[Xanyo]

Annoyed by the red kin, Zaratii turns from the humanoids and switches back to Draconic.

"Oh would you shut up?" she hisses, unafraid of the largest to hatch, "You literally just hatched and have yet to do anything whatsoever. I at least have convinced these unsubjucated 'slaves' to leave us some food. Assuming, of course, we don't decide that they look more appetizing. So unless you're going to shake off your eggwater and actually do something, clamp your maw and quit complaining."

Not waiting for a response, she addresses the whole of the "clutch", if this mongrel mess can be called that.

"Some idiot stole us each from our nests and convinced these two-legged fools to take us to the south of this island, wherever it is. Looks like a mere rainstorm held them up long enough for us to hatch in this drab cave instead of where we ought've or were expected. So now we have options. We can stick together or go our separate ways. We can let these two-legs live or turn them into a hatching feast. We can go out into the rain or, if you're afraid of getting wet, we can wait here for the weather to change or explore further into this cave. Personally, I barely care which. I will say, though, that at least for now we are the weakest of dragons, without a nest-mother, so it may be wise to stick together."

[Eonn]

"You need to learn some respect, child." Khrakoa sneers. "But we're on and island, you say? Unfortunate. There will probably not be room for four dragons here..." The red wyrmling begins to pace as he thinks.

"If you really need me to protect you from these apes, however, I suppose I can be convinced to lend my aid." Khrahoa says with a chuckle, shouldering the blue dragon in a bullying manner. "This might be a good excersice, anyways. Let's find out where we are and what's around us. Maybe we can even extract some treasure from these fools. How to get off the island though, I wonder? Is it close enough to the mainland to fly? Maybe we'll be lucky, and it will be large enough for us all to eke out territory. Otherwise..." Khrakoa pauses midstep. He looks to each of the other hatchlings, one after another, sizing them up. He then draws close to Zaratii, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"You know I was just giving you a hard time, yeah? I know you're tough and can handle it. That said, if push comes to shove... well, we both know that golds don't play fair, and blacks aren't exactly known for their good character either. So, maybe, we watch each other's backs, yeah?" Before Zaratii can reply, he's off again to strech his legs.

[Deadguy]

Sotet stepped out of her egg shells as the others seemed to be bickering. She stretched her spine as a cat might upon awakening, before opening up the wings to their diminutive full span. After flexing, hearing the speaking of eating the humanoids, she slunk back slightly toward a corner.

"They are an ocean-faring people. Did they say they gathered us from around this island, or brought us here by ship?"

The Black spoke directly to Zaratii, as she seemed to know the language the orcs used.

"These know what we are and how many we are. If they continue south, they will share that with others. Do you think those that we were being brought to know what they were asking for?"


The slinking back isn't actually cowering away, but to gain an angle to hit more than one humanoid with a line breath (if possible)

[Esprit15]

As you bicker back and forth, the orcs by the fire move to the pile of crates and several more eggs, of all variety of color and size. After some mumbling, they pick one that smells of meat and grain, and place it next to you. The orc who spoke to you meanwhile walks over to the others by the entrance (follow, or listen check to hear from a distance), seemingly to explain the situation. With your eyes clear, it seems like there are four more orcs at the entrance to the cave, these ones a bit bigger than the ones you saw by the fire.

[Xanyo]

Zaratii stumbles a bit when the red shoulders her, but keeps her footing, albeit with an expression of annoyance. Then the black speaks and earns her attention.

"They claimed to have been hired to bring us from the north of this island to the south," she informs, "As for whether the intended recipients are informed... they seem under the impression that the 'Tabaxi' knew full well what was to be delivered. If the delivery fails to show at all, I expect they will assume either that it was waylaid, or that these ones made off with the goods or screwed up."

"Which island?" she asks the two-legs, briefly switching to speak in Tongues and then relaying whatever response is given.

[Esprit15]

Zaratii stumbles a bit when the red shoulders her, but keeps her footing, albeit with an expression of annoyance. Then the black speaks and earns her attention.

"They claimed to have been hired to bring us from the north of this island to the south," she informs, "As for whether the intended recipients are informed... they seem under the impression that the 'Tabaxi' knew full well what was to be delivered. If the delivery fails to show at all, I expect they will assume either that it was waylaid, or that these ones made off with the goods or screwed up."

"Which island?" she asks the two-legs, briefly switching to speak in Tongues and then relaying whatever response is given.

"Taishim," one of the orcs says simply.
Those who have the skills, give me a Knowledge: Geography check, and a Knowledge: Local check

[Eonn]

"I see, so it is these Tabaxi who have the gold. Maybe it's worth paying them a visit then?" Khrakoa says. Taishim means little to him, so he's more content to investigate the food crate. Looks like these Orcs were good for something after all.

[Xanyo]

Taishim? Taishim... Taishim!

"So, we're on Taishim," she muses to the others, "A small island south of the mainland, the Easterlands. The Tabaxi are a lesser race, the primary denizens here. Cat people, humanoids with fur and claws, sharp minds and an affinity for stealth. I'm sure they have plenty of gold, just as I'm sure they can deal with a few feisty wyrmlings. We're probably not within a day's flight of the mainland, at least not with our youth. We're too young to fly for long. Not to mention none of us have yet stretched their wings and flown at all."

She paces as she considers, then resumes addressing the clutch.

"Which means we're forced together by circumstance, more or less. I suppose at the very least we should introduce ourselves to each other. I am Zaratii."

[Eonn]

"Yes, that figures. How large of a place is this island though?" Khrakoa states in response to the information about their location.

"You may call me Khrakoa. It's a name many will know in due time."

[Goaty14]

"You three should know me as Kirvirlym"*, the small gold dragon responded, stretching and walking to the mysterious egg. She observed it, curious at what it was, and how she would go about eating it. Perhaps if it was something magical, she would know what it was, but otherwise, she would have to ponder upon it...

Knowledge (Arcana) roll on the egg, if applicable: [roll0]

*Pronounced "Keer-veer-leam". It might not come up IC, but FYI

[Deadguy]

"Sotet."

The Black seemed to lack the bluster and self-assumes greatness the others expressed. She watched the larger orcs closely. These would be the ones to attempt to subdue the hatchlings. She assumed.

Her attention diverted for a moment upon seeing other eggs by the crate of food. Even more of their kind, not yet hatched?


Sense Motive vs large orcs [roll0]
Knowledge (Arcana) vs eggs [roll1]

[Deadguy]

"It appears that they have even more of your blood, Kirvirlym and Khrakoa."

Sotet made a slight motion of her head toward the unhatched eggs. She was not comfortable with other dragons being used for whatever the Tabaxi had intended. Nor did she relish in saving them. It would be more mouths to feed and more competition later in life.

"If we do not intend on doing anything about ours, or their, theft, I think I'll go outside and see what there is to see."

The sound of rain sounded welcoming. Hopefully, there was a source of water close by that she might make a makeshift nest.

[Eonn]

"I hold no allegiance to them." Khrakoa says as he roots through the crate for bites of dried meat, ignoring most of the other preserved foods. "Let the Tabaxi have them. Maybe they don't even notice that some eggs are missing. As for us, well, I have kobolds to find and a lair to claim. Zaratii, do you know if kobolds dwell here? And what's the highest place on this island?"

He pauses for a minute. The red's tail flicks about as he thinks. "Are there any other dragons established here?"

[Xanyo]

"That's all I know of this place," Zaratii answers in the negative, "Taishim is an island, not a major enough location for us to have learned much about in the egg. If we want more information, we'll have to find it the normal way - by seeking out and talking to the lesser races. Although, I may advise being cautious with the Tabaxi: I don't know why they wanted our eggs, but I don't trust those that likely caused us to be stolen from our respective nests."

She watches the others eat before helping herself to some of the rations.

"We're young and thus weak. Whatever our individual goals, first we have to ensure that we can survive our infant years. To accomplish that, we can hide while we grow, seek allies of the lesser races, find a patron, or band together and protect each other." The way she says "allies", she doesn't seem to mean as equals. "That last option we may wish to combine with another, as even together we are relatively weak. Hmm. This would all be made easier if we had a better idea of the politics of this place. Which means finding locals to question - not these sea-farers. Speaking of them, Khrakoa, please consider keeping an eye on the larger ones at the cave's mouth. They may be benign now, but that is subject to change. Hm. Before anything else, a decision about what to do hear and now should be made. I'm hearing a preference towards heading out, so if there are no objections, let us venture into the storm."

[Eonn]

"And I'd take the companionship of a gold over an orc any day." Khakis says. "So let us be off then. There must be a half decent lair around here, even if I must share for the time being..."

[Goaty14]

Kirvirlym

Listening to the others, Kir nodded in agreement. She spoke "I see. Though I would try to help my unhatched kin, I am too weak to do so currently. I should return later, when I am more... capable. Though as you say, we should move to a more suitable place first.". In the meantime, Kir worked to try and stretch her wings and dry herself from the mysterious egg-juices that had covered her previously.

[Deadguy]

The black wyrmling moved toward the mouth of the cave, pausing just briefly to snatch up some food for herself. She moved toward the side of the entrance, keeping clear of the humanoids that had gathered.

[Esprit15]

The black wyrmling moved toward the mouth of the cave, pausing just briefly to snatch up some food for herself. She moved toward the side of the entrance, keeping clear of the humanoids that had gathered.

As the group moves toward the exit, the Grey Orcs move, giving you a wide berth. Whatever the one orc had said to them, it seemed to be enough that they didn't want to bother fighting.
450 XP to everyone. While dragons do not level up using XP, they can use it for other things still - crafting items, as payment for certain spells, etc. Note that I do not do skill/feat/class retraining.

Outside, it appears that you are in a mountain cave just above the treeline of a massive jungle, though the heavy rain prevents you from judging anything more than several hundred feet in the distance. Other than the downpour, it's hard to make out much sound, either. Walking along the mountain path a bit, it appears to be part of a small range, which Zaratii deduces extends off to the east and west. The mountain itself is rather expansive though, and the jungle almost certainly would make for good hunting. For a few of you, this would make for a fitting first lair. With all the rainfall, no doubt Sotet would be able to find a place in the jungle of stagnant water to make their own.

[Eonn]

Despite the rain, Khrakoa was happy to be taking his first steps out of that dingy hole. He steps forward, and with all his meager hatchling strength, leaps for the sky while beating his wings.

Is there any kind of check for this, since this is our first flight and all?

[Goaty14]

Kirvirlym

Kir was indeed pleased at the sight of the rain - it gave her a more thorough washing of the icky-egg-water and moistened her scales, making flight an easier proposition. Seeing Khrakoa take to the skies, Kir followed in tow, or at least, she attempted as much, calling to the others "Let's be cautious and not go too far before we wait for the sky to clear up - long travel now would be too much, I think"


Let’s make it a DEX check (to be coordinated) and a STR check (to actually have the ability to keep control in the storm)
DEX: [roll0]
STR: [roll1]

[Esprit15]

You get a running start, and after one, two, three flaps, you get enough wind under your wings to pull your legs in. You bank right, and suddenly you're out over the forest, fighting the wind. You can see that your little group is around... maybe three hundred, four hundred feet above the tree line. The further from the mountain you get though, the harder it is to see, and you're fighting the wind as well. Maybe if you were bigger, but it's dangerous to fly in this weather while so small.

[Deadguy]

Sotet watched the Gold take off and fight the weather. She had no desire to even try such a maneuver. Instead, she turned toward the others and made her intentions clear.

"I am going into the jungle. My taste in den conditions is vastly different than either of yours. Meet back here on the morning after weather breaks?"

[Eonn]

Khakis wants to stay in the air, but the storm may be more than the young dragon can handle. For as long as he is able, the small dragon stays in the air, searching the mountain side for a place that might make for a good lair. While he'd like to find a tribe of kobolds who have no dragon, he is under no delusion that he can just stumble into them on his first day out of the egg.

Spot: [roll0]
Search: [roll1]

After making the best of his vantage point, Khrakoa circles back to the ground.

[Esprit15]

Khakis wants to stay in the air, but the storm may be more than the young dragon can handle. For as long as he is able, the small dragon stays in the air, searching the mountain side for a place that might make for a good lair. While he'd like to find a tribe of kobolds who have no dragon, he is under no delusion that he can just stumble into them on his first day out of the egg.

Spot: [roll0]
Search: [roll1]
After making the best of his vantage point, Khrakoa circles back to the ground.

You don’t find a cave, the rain and wind forcing you back to the ground, but you’ve managed to scope out a few places that look promising, the right mix of secluded from others and accessible for you.


Sotet watched the Gold take off and fight the weather. She had no desire to even try such a maneuver. Instead, she turned toward the others and made her intentions clear.

"I am going into the jungle. My taste in den conditions is vastly different than either of yours. Meet back here on the morning after weather breaks?"

After you confirm your plan with the others, you head down into the forest, mostly following the river. You soon find a small oxbow lake. You’d almost have missed it - mangrove-like trees fill the edges, and only the very center of the lake is actually empty. All these roots to hide in at your size would be perfect to start a basic lair, and the fresh body of water will ensure a steady supply of prey.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa shakes the water off his wings and folds them by his side. He considers what he saw from the air as Sotet departs. A lair isn't built in a day, he figures, despite wanting very much simply to stumble upon an empty lair filled with gold and kobolds to worship him.

He turns and begins a hike up the rock slopes. Maybe it's good that there was no cave waiting for him to claim. It made the best spot, the highest peak of the mountain, the uncontested winner for a place to lair. From there, he'd be able to survey much of the domain. Even better, if the Tabaxi wanted to get at him, they'd be in for an uphill battle. Khrakoa silently smirks at his clever joke.

"Then I will seek a lair for myself as well." The red wyrmling says as he leaves the others. "Don't follow me, Gold. And best of luck finding a suitable lair for yourself, Blue."

[Xanyo]

Zaratii lets the rain wash over her, cleansing her. The moisture does not overly bother her, although she is not keen on trying to sleep in it. She stretches as the others begin to disperse, and decides.

"I will keep vigil," she declares, "I will stay around here and observe. If there is trouble, rattle your lungs and give a call. I will hear."

There is no lair for her here, only alcoves to shelter her from the worst of the storm. Perhaps later she could find a somewhat suitable cove. For now, she waits. Once all the other dragons have gone whichever ways, and along with them any chance of her looking foolish, she crawls atop a large rock and stretches her wings. Letting the wind flow about her, she tests, experiments. Then she leaps and glides. She does so a few more times, gauging how the wind pulls and pushes, before beating her wings and trying to fly. However many tries it takes her, does not matter. She learns from each one. As she does, she listens.

[Esprit15]

Khrakoa shakes the water off his wings and folds them by his side. He considers what he saw from the air as Sotet departs. A lair isn't built in a day, he figures, despite wanting very much simply to stumble upon an empty lair filled with gold and kobolds to worship him.

He turns and begins a hike up the rock slopes. Maybe it's good that there was no cave waiting for him to claim. It made the best spot, the highest peak of the mountain, the uncontested winner for a place to lair. From there, he'd be able to survey much of the domain. Even better, if the Tabaxi wanted to get at him, they'd be in for an uphill battle. Khrakoa silently smirks at his clever joke.

"Then I will seek a lair for myself as well." The red wyrmling says as he leaves the others. "Don't follow me, Gold. And best of luck finding a suitable lair for yourself, Blue."
Your climb is not particularly challenging, and this high up, most large wildlife is below you. You manage to find a few alcoves that, while not leading to any cave systems, at least will shelter you from the storm.
(Unless there is anything else you wish to do, you'll be on hold until the others bed down for the night)


Zaratii lets the rain wash over her, cleansing her. The moisture does not overly bother her, although she is not keen on trying to sleep in it. She stretches as the others begin to disperse, and decides.

"I will keep vigil," she declares, "I will stay around here and observe. If there is trouble, rattle your lungs and give a call. I will hear."

There is no lair for her here, only alcoves to shelter her from the worst of the storm. Perhaps later she could find a somewhat suitable cove. For now, she waits. Once all the other dragons have gone whichever ways, and along with them any chance of her looking foolish, she crawls atop a large rock and stretches her wings. Letting the wind flow about her, she tests, experiments. Then she leaps and glides. She does so a few more times, gauging how the wind pulls and pushes, before beating her wings and trying to fly. However many tries it takes her, does not matter. She learns from each one. As she does, she listens.

You keep an ear out, and in spite of the heavy rain and wind, you still manage to listen to the goings on around the mountain. You hear the grey humanoids in the cave, talking to each other about how strange it was that the uncut gems they were delivering turned out to be dragons. You fly along the side of the mountain for a while, but finding it void of anything particularly interesting, glide down to the river, and after several minutes, hear an unnatural, sharp, thwacking sound, each accompanied by grunts, maybe forty feet from the water's edge.

[Xanyo]

You keep an ear out, and in spite of the heavy rain and wind, you still manage to listen to the goings on around the mountain. You hear the grey humanoids in the cave, talking to each other about how strange it was that the uncut gems they were delivering turned out to be dragons. You fly along the side of the mountain for a while, but finding it void of anything particularly interesting, glide down to the river, and after several minutes, hear an unnatural, sharp, thwacking sound, each accompanied by grunts, maybe forty feet from the water's edge.

Well now, what have we yonder? Zaratii ponders, If that sound were natural, 'twould be a wonder. Shall I wake another to investigate? Perhaps not, least not yet.

Accounting for the wind, she flies over above the source of the sound, staying high enough to use the weather to conceal her presence. She may have to go lower to get a clear view, but not yet.

Hide: [roll0] (yay for being tiny)
Move Silently: [roll1] (flying overhead in the rain should probably be pretty hard to hear)

[Esprit15]

Well now, what have we yonder? Zaratii ponders, If that sound were natural, 'twould be a wonder. Shall I wake another to investigate? Perhaps not, least not yet.

Accounting for the wind, she flies over above the source of the sound, staying high enough to use the weather to conceal her presence. She may have to go lower to get a clear view, but not yet.

Hide: [roll0] (yay for being tiny)
Move Silently: [roll1] (flying overhead in the rain should probably be pretty hard to hear)

Though the canopy is thick, you manage to see flecks of ground. In one of these flecks, as you circle the noise, you spot a tall humanoid, fur matter to its face and body. They appear to be hacking some tool against a tree. You recognize this humanoid to be a Tabaxi - a type of humanoid that almost exclusively live on a small, southern island that they call Taishim. It is right as you circle this spot that the Tabaxi looks up through the canopy while wiping its brow, and you swear the two of you make eye contact for a second before your flight path continues.

[Deadguy]

Sotet approached the water cautiously. There were bound to be some manner of predator in such a place, natural or otherwise. She used the mangrove roots as cover, maneuvering into the shallows once she had assessed it's safety.

Once she was completely submerged and within the thickest roots, she sunk down to the bottom and dug away an indent to lay in. Further exploration could be done once the weather had cleared and she could take to the air against threats.


Hide / Move Silent: [roll0] [roll1]
Spot / Listen: [roll2] [roll3]
Knowledge (Nature): [roll4]

[Xanyo]

Though the canopy is thick, you manage to see flecks of ground. In one of these flecks, as you circle the noise, you spot a tall humanoid, fur matter to its face and body. They appear to be hacking some tool against a tree. You recognize this humanoid to be a Tabaxi - a type of humanoid that almost exclusively live on a small, southern island that they call Taishim. It is right as you circle this spot that the Tabaxi looks up through the canopy while wiping its brow, and you swear the two of you make eye contact for a second before your flight path continues.

Zaratii scowls internally, seeing the Tabaxi look up at just the right time. She hopes water landed in their eye. So much for being unseen. Tucking her wings, she dives into the canopy nearby, disappearing into the foliage. This would be a local, and would hopefully have more information than the greyskins. Gliding from branch to branch, she positions herself in the tops of the tree the two-legs was hacking at, peering down at them.

Elevate self, look down on them. Appear unconcerned, barely interested. Use distance to make size harder to judge. Allow the water dripping, flowing from the leaves to make it harder to look directly at me. I am superior, and this way they'll know it. Don't bother to address the lesser being, wait for them to start and then seize control of the interaction.

Gazing silently from above, she waits.

[Esprit15]

Sotet approached the water cautiously. There were bound to be some manner of predator in such a place, natural or otherwise. She used the mangrove roots as cover, maneuvering into the shallows once she had assessed it's safety.

Once she was completely submerged and within the thickest roots, she sunk down to the bottom and dug away an indent to lay in. Further exploration could be done once the weather had cleared and she could take to the air against threats.


Hide / Move Silent: [roll0] [roll1]
Spot / Listen: [roll2] [roll3]
Knowledge (Nature): [roll4]
You don't notice any wildlife... wait, a deer appears to be drinking from the water. If the water has any inhabitants besides fish, you don't notice them.

...until you step into the shallows and swim around. It happens faster than you think: One moment, you're swimming in the water, the next, a large, brown set of jaws are leaping out of the water and snapping at you, dragging you into the water. You take 11 Piercing damage and are grappled.
16 - Sotet
13 - Crocodile


Zaratii scowls internally, seeing the Tabaxi look up at just the right time. She hopes water landed in their eye. So much for being unseen. Tucking her wings, she dives into the canopy nearby, disappearing into the foliage. This would be a local, and would hopefully have more information than the greyskins. Gliding from branch to branch, she positions herself in the tops of the tree the two-legs was hacking at, peering down at them.

Elevate self, look down on them. Appear unconcerned, barely interested. Use distance to make size harder to judge. Allow the water dripping, flowing from the leaves to make it harder to look directly at me. I am superior, and this way they'll know it. Don't bother to address the lesser being, wait for them to start and then seize control of the interaction.

Gazing silently from above, she waits.

As you gently land, you see the Tabaxi has pulled a bow and has it trained in your direction. It seems to be watching you almost as keenly as you are watching it. Like you, it remains silent.

[Deadguy]

There was a moment of panic, even terror, in the tiny black dragon. The pain of jaws wrapped around her body confirmed what she had thought. Other things claimed these waters.

Rage welled up despite the pain, her mouth opened. Even beneath the murky waters, the acid sizzled as it left her body. This was no normal acid. It was viscous, clinging and coating the reptile in gooey strands.


Acid Breath (Entangling Exhalation) [roll0] (1/2 for entangle) - ref dc 14 for 1/2
Entangled (-2 att / -4 dex / half movement) for [roll1] rds - 1d6 acid dmg per rd
Recharge [roll2] rds -1 for breath weapon attunement

[Esprit15]

The crocodile twists itself out of the way of most of the acid, but not all of it, and some clings to the reptile’s scales. It doesn’t seem to mind though, as it shifts its mouth grip on you. You struggle and squirm with all your might, but the crocodile gives you a small toss, slamming its jaws shut over your own, and begins to drag you into the deeper water, already spinning in what your memory is telling you the lesser races have termed ‘the death roll.’ (You are pinned, mouth held shut)

[Deadguy]

Once she had been dragged completely under the water and her only real offensive weapon neutralized, the black hatchling went completely limp in the jaws of the reptile. Her hope was that it would leave her sit on the bottom to ferment as her own kind did, or just swallow her whole.

[Xanyo]

As you gently land, you see the Tabaxi has pulled a bow and has it trained in your direction. It seems to be watching you almost as keenly as you are watching it. Like you, it remains silent.

Hello kitty, Zaratii thinks to herself, I wouldn't threaten me if I were you. Might make me decide I'm still hungry.

She continues the stare-off for a few beats, deciding how to present herself, before speaking in tongues.

"Shouldn't you be careful aiming upwards like that? What goes up, must come down."

[Esprit15]

Hello kitty, Zaratii thinks to herself, I wouldn't threaten me if I were you. Might make me decide I'm still hungry.

She continues the stare-off for a few beats, deciding how to present herself, before speaking in tongues.

"Shouldn't you be careful aiming upwards like that? What goes up, must come down."
"Yes. Thankfully, I have a target that I am aiming at, and a forest largely empty of anyone I would worry about hitting.

"Curious that you speak. I have not seen one such as you around here before."


Once she had been dragged completely under the water and her only real offensive weapon neutralized, the black hatchling went completely limp in the jaws of the reptile. Her hope was that it would leave her sit on the bottom to ferment as her own kind did, or just swallow her whole.

Feeling its tiny prey go limp, the crocodile quickly snaps you up. Thankfully, the creature is unable to chew, and you only take 7 piercing damage as you are maneuvered to be swallowed.

It's dark. The acid in here is far weaker than your own breath weapon is capable of, but the crushing feeling around you (including that of previous meals) is not exactly fun either. You better find a way out of this quickly.

[Deadguy]

Once inside the beast's belly, her mouth was once again free. Sotet could feel her reserve of acid having been refreshed. The creature's stomach lining might be slightly resistant it, but she was sure that the remains of it's previous meals would all but dissolve. That would give her plenty of room to claw and bite her way out.

She spewed the corrosive without any added enzymes to make it stick to surfaces. This was as pure and potent as she could create within the tiny body.


Acid Breath [roll0]
Recharge [roll1]

[Xanyo]

"Yes. Thankfully, I have a target that I am aiming at, and a forest largely empty of anyone I would worry about hitting.

"Curious that you speak. I have not seen one such as you around here before."

Engage in conversation. Keep them talking. Ask minor questions, let them answer, build rapport so they'll be more willing to talk. Let's go for nonchalance. Nonchalance, and subtly keeping control of the conversation.

"Probably because I haven't been around here before," she purrs, "Hard to see someone who isn't there, isn't it? What are you doing out here in the middle of a storm, anyway? Won't drenched fur be rather uncomfortable?"

She holds onto the trunk of the tree, but lets herself look relaxed. Like the weapon pointed at her isn't a danger at all.

[Esprit15]

Once inside the beast's belly, her mouth was once again free. Sotet could feel her reserve of acid having been refreshed. The creature's stomach lining might be slightly resistant it, but she was sure that the remains of it's previous meals would all but dissolve. That would give her plenty of room to claw and bite her way out.

She spewed the corrosive without any added enzymes to make it stick to surfaces. This was as pure and potent as she could create within the tiny body.


Acid Breath [roll0]
Recharge [roll1]

As you fill the reptile's stomach with a far more potent acid than it is used to, you feel it spasm violently. You take 5 bludgeoning damage as the body tenses around you, squeezing a half digested skeleton as well as several smooth stones into you.

[Deadguy]

The black wyrmling struggled to remain in control of her instincts. Her whole body hurt. She could feel blood leaking from several puncture wounds inflicted by the maw of the crocodile. It's stomach was far less threatening, but still threatened to overwhelm her at any moment.

Her initial plan of clawing and biting her way out after she had released her acid quickly changed. Sotet could feel her body already flooding with the potent acid once again. The rush of adrenaline, the will to survive, a fluke ability passed down through her bloodline. At this very moment, it mattered very little. All that mattered was bathing this creature's insides until only a husk remained.


Acid Breath Weapon [roll0]
Recharge [roll1]

[Esprit15]

The black wyrmling struggled to remain in control of her instincts. Her whole body hurt. She could feel blood leaking from several puncture wounds inflicted by the maw of the crocodile. It's stomach was far less threatening, but still threatened to overwhelm her at any moment.

Her initial plan of clawing and biting her way out after she had released her acid quickly changed. Sotet could feel her body already flooding with the potent acid once again. The rush of adrenaline, the will to survive, a fluke ability passed down through her bloodline. At this very moment, it mattered very little. All that mattered was bathing this creature's insides until only a husk remained.


Acid Breath Weapon [roll0]
Recharge [roll1]

Panicked and raging, you release one last burst of breath, and you see... light! The muscles around you give a shudder and clench, before going slack. Squirming out of the crocodile's body, you find the creature very, very dead.
Battered, bloodied, you have 600XP, and a crocodile free pond.

[Deadguy]

Sotet remained in the water. She was in no condition to fight a possible aerial or land predator that might see her as an easy meal now. Besides, she had food. The body of the reptile would age nicely at the bottom of her new domain.

Once she was at the bottom, she tested the firmness. She hoped it was soft enough to dig in. To hold her pool of acid, it would need to be dug out to the bedrock. That massive task could wait though. Sotet had felt a number of things while inside the crocodile. She was interested in what they were, so she combed the inside of the carcass and the bottom.


Knowledge (Nature) vs Pond (spring / runoff fed, type of bottom) [roll0]
Search vs stomach contents [roll1]

[Esprit15]

Inside the stomach, you find mostly bones and fur - evidently a traveling member of the lesser race that lives here. Mixed with the fur though, you manage to find 134 golden coins, in mostly usable condition. You also find a dark bottle, the top corked and sealed in wax. The pond itself is an offshoot from the river that runs from the mountain, and slowly gives way to swampy ground. Good soil drainage prevents it from continuing to flow.


Engage in conversation. Keep them talking. Ask minor questions, let them answer, build rapport so they'll be more willing to talk. Let's go for nonchalance. Nonchalance, and subtly keeping control of the conversation.

"Probably because I haven't been around here before," she purrs, "Hard to see someone who isn't there, isn't it? What are you doing out here in the middle of a storm, anyway? Won't drenched fur be rather uncomfortable?"

She holds onto the trunk of the tree, but lets herself look relaxed. Like the weapon pointed at her isn't a danger at all.

"That would make sense, then," the Tabaxi says. They lower the draw on their bow, but keep the weapon held. He seems to smile? It looks like the humanoid gesture. "A little rain? Nah, us southerners love the water. And it's still a warm day, even with the rain. Keeps the other animals away, too. Except you, I guess."

[Xanyo]

"That would make sense, then," the Tabaxi says. They lower the draw on their bow, but keep the weapon held. He seems to smile? It looks like the humanoid gesture. "A little rain? Nah, us southerners love the water. And it's still a warm day, even with the rain. Keeps the other animals away, too. Except you, I guess."

Yes, I ask the questions, not you. Good.

"Since I'm unfamiliar with this region, perhaps you could fill me in a bit?" Zaratii proposes, "I haven't had a chance to talk to a local of Taishim yet. I know where I am, but, do apprise me of the local matters of interest?"

Speak as though asking a question, but phrase it as an instruction. Command, not question. Don't leave the choice of whether to answer.

As she speaks, the blue dragonling "idly" scratches at the bark of the tree.

[Esprit15]

Yes, I ask the questions, not you. Good.

"Since I'm unfamiliar with this region, perhaps you could fill me in a bit?" Zaratii proposes, "I haven't had a chance to talk to a local of Taishim yet. I know where I am, but, do apprise me of the local matters of interest?"

Speak as though asking a question, but phrase it as an instruction. Command, not question. Don't leave the choice of whether to answer.

As she speaks, the blue dragonling "idly" scratches at the bark of the tree.

"Not from around here...? Where ya from?" the feline asks, curiously, hands still firm on the bow.

[Xanyo]

"Not from around here...? Where ya from?" the feline asks, curiously, hands still firm on the bow.

Zaratii seethes silently. You do not get to ask questions. You are not worth the answers. You answer questions, not ask them. Now, how to get the cat back on track? Preferably without giving an answer, lest they feel invited to inquire further.

"It doesn't matter," she comes close to hissing the words, but doesn't, "I'm here, so here is what matters."

[Esprit15]

Zaratii seethes silently. You do not get to ask questions. You are not worth the answers. You answer questions, not ask them. Now, how to get the cat back on track? Preferably without giving an answer, lest they feel invited to inquire further.

"It doesn't matter," she comes close to hissing the words, but doesn't, "I'm here, so here is what matters."

"Well, I hope you enjoy here then. Trails run two ways." The Tabaxi stows their bow and pulls out a knife of some sort with a white blade, and the chopping sound returns - they appear to be removing the low branches of trees near the trail, stripping them of leaves, and then bundling the wood itself on a small carrier on their back. Looking around them, you can see that the trail here is very well maintained like this, despite no towns being visible. The whole path is layered in leaves which seem to prevent new plants from growing on the pathway, and very few branches appear to obstruct passage.

[Xanyo]

"Well, I hope you enjoy here then. Trails run two ways." The Tabaxi stows their bow and pulls out a knife of some sort with a white blade, and the chopping sound returns - they appear to be removing the low branches of trees near the trail, stripping them of leaves, and then bundling the wood itself on a small carrier on their back. Looking around them, you can see that the trail here is very well maintained like this, despite no towns being visible. The whole path is layered in leaves which seem to prevent new plants from growing on the pathway, and very few branches appear to obstruct passage.

Why you insolent- wait, both ways? Zaratii glances up and down the path as she ponders. Mountainward and... seaward? I'd guess that the main settlement is seaward. Right, the greyskins mentioned... So what's mountainward that warrants a maintained path?

She considers, uncaring of the Tabaxi now that she has something useful, then leaps from the tree. Spreading her wings, she glides along the path towards the mountain, periodically beating her wings.

I should be sure to return to our meeting place before the others stir, but what better way to greet them than with information?

[Esprit15]

Caej Zua'autl
As your Mother and Father begin to wind down in their story, in the darkness you feel a sudden jolt.

No matter what may come, remember: you are strong, my child and you are noble, my little one. While we may quarrel, war, and scheme against one another, our shared heritage is what binds us, and what binds our kin.

And with that, the unison voices of your patrons fade into nothingness, and you are left alone, in darkness, cramped by walls on all sides. You can barely hear sounds around you, muffled and faint. You struggle, and squirm. You fear that Death will come for you before even tasting air, or seeing light. Panicking and mind growing faint, you shriek, exhaling a wave of sound that shatters the shell.

You find yourself looking around at four grey humanoids sitting by a fire, all staring at you.


Why you insolent- wait, both ways? Zaratii glances up and down the path as she ponders. Mountainward and... seaward? I'd guess that the main settlement is seaward. Right, the greyskins mentioned... So what's mountainward that warrants a maintained path?

She considers, uncaring of the Tabaxi now that she has something useful, then leaps from the tree. Spreading her wings, she glides along the path towards the mountain, periodically beating her wings.

I should be sure to return to our meeting place before the others stir, but what better way to greet them than with information?

You follow the path which you notice begins to curve more to the west than north, until it eventually stops at a cabin. A soft glow emanates from behind a cloth that covers the windows.

[Feathersnow]

I flutter my still wet and useless wings and consider the humanoids carefully. It occurs to me that they are not giants, rather I am very small. This is a problem and it will need to be addressed in time. But for now, I want food, protection, and treasure, in that order.

"Salutations," I say, in the language that my parents talked to me in. Some distant part of me remembers echoes of another, older idiom, but it wouldn't be appropriate here. Were I full size, and these little humanoids towered over me like gods, maybe then they would speak in that other tongue. But only were they gods in truth...

These humanoids clearly seek a paragon to lead them to freedom and to fulfill their dreams. It occurs to me that ambition and freedom are the two most important things. One to seek power and the other, to embody it.

That the humanoids have a fire is a sign they are worthy to be my minions, for they have anticipated my needs. I am currently wet and cold. I proceed to curl up by the fire and spread my wings to dry.

[Xanyo]

You follow the path which you notice begins to curve more to the west than north, until it eventually stops at a cabin. A soft glow emanates from behind a cloth that covers the windows.

Zaratii approaches the cabin, settling to the ground in front of the door.

A whole, actively maintained path just to lead to a single cabin? Either this hut houses someone of importance, or it covers a passageway of some sort. Let's find out, shall we? The Tabaxi was initially threatening, but only defensively. If the denizens here follow that pattern, I should be fine. If they are more hostile, well, few creatures fly faster than a dragon.

She considers the door for a moment, then speaks loudly: "Knock, knock!"

[Esprit15]

I flutter my still wet and useless wings and consider the humanoids carefully. It occurs to me that they are not giants, rather I am very small. This is a problem and it will need to be addressed in time. But for now, I want food, protection, and treasure, in that order.

"Salutations," I say, in the language that my parents talked to me in. Some distant part of me remembers echoes of another, older idiom, but it wouldn't be appropriate here. Were I full size, and these little humanoids towered over me like gods, maybe then they would speak in that other tongue. But only were they gods in truth...

These humanoids clearly seek a paragon to lead them to freedom and to fulfill their dreams. It occurs to me that ambition and freedom are the two most important things. One to seek power and the other, to embody it.

That the humanoids have a fire is a sign they are worthy to be my minions, for they have anticipated my needs. I am currently wet and cold. I proceed to curl up by the fire and spread my wings to dry.
The humanoids stare somewhat in disbelief, seeming to not respond to the greeting. They begin to mumble to one another in a language that it takes you a second to understand, your natural gift for tongues translating. "Another one?" I hope the others don't hatch before we get there, too." "Well at least this time there's only one." "Think it will be as pompous as the others?" "On its own? Maybe not. Only one could actually speak to us, it seemed, but they had numbers before."


Zaratii approaches the cabin, settling to the ground in front of the door.

A whole, actively maintained path just to lead to a single cabin? Either this hut houses someone of importance, or it covers a passageway of some sort. Let's find out, shall we? The Tabaxi was initially threatening, but only defensively. If the denizens here follow that pattern, I should be fine. If they are more hostile, well, few creatures fly faster than a dragon.

She considers the door for a moment, then speaks loudly: "Knock, knock!"

Nobody answers the door.

[Feathersnow]

Caej Zua'autl considers this new information and tries, with growing confidence, to try speaking the strange liquid language of the humanoids

So there are others? Do you mean other hatchling dragons? Tell me of them!? Why did you reject serving them? Where are they now?

A pause. Caej Zua'autl feels a bitter emptiness inside her tiny, elongated frame. This, she intuits, is the thing called "hunger".

I appreciate your initiative in preparing this fire for me. Could it be you also anticipated that I will be hungry? Please give me food.


That word "please. " It sounds wrong. It's closest approximation in the Ancestor Tongue is a terrified whimper that presages one's death or one committing betrayal of false surrender to a stupid enemy. It also tastes in the mouth like the meaningless mutterings that are like grooming to particularly favored servants. But the implication in the humanoids' own language is somehow demeaning. Like it implies an equal or even... subservient relationship between the speakers. The god language has no such niceties at all.

[Esprit15]

The humanoids by the fire seems startled when you start speaking their language. "Oh great, this one can, too... We didn't reject serving them, they never asked, and we wouldn't if they demanded it. We were just delivering what we were told were polished gems. ...and this fire wasn't made for any of you, it was made to help us dry from the rainstorm outside. If you want food, go find the other little ones," one of them says rather dismissively. The others seem to chuckle at this, one slapping him on the shoulder playfully before walking to the cave entrance, where you can now more clearly see four more humanoids, a little taller than the ones near the fire but still the same race.

[Feathersnow]

Caej Zua'autl considers this. Apparently, these benighted humanoids weren't cultist devoted to awaiting the advent of her, their glorious leader and god. That was unfortunate, for both them, and more importantly, for her.


So... you are not yet my loyal minions. I regret your poor judgment. But I bear you no ill will

If I understand correctly, you were hired to courier my unborn self and the eggs of other dragons to some unknown fate. This normally would offend me, but I am moved to forgive you due to your plea of ignorance.

Might I offer a counterproposal. Your buyer has acted in bad faith and exposed you to vicious dragons without any preparation nor any way to earn our goodwill. Join me, in whatever capacity you choose, in ambushing and robbing them!
If you feed me now, I will consider the food purchased from my share of the loot. You may do as you wish with the remaining eggs.

If I prove myself able, you are welcome to reconsider serving me. If you persist in your independence, I will not press the issue, but rather remain an equal partner. If you refuse, I ask that you allow me to remain in peace until the storm passes.

[Esprit15]

"We will take the latter," the grey skinned humanoid says, getting a bit of a toothy grin, "we already have ways of... responding to those that cross us in deals. I'm sure the Tabaxi of Kawazawa will love a visit from us and our friends, yeah?" he says, turning to the others. They all nod in agreement, mimicking the apparent eagerness at whatever fate awaited their employers. "As we said, we don't have food, but your sitting by the fire will do us no harm."

[Feathersnow]

Caej Zua'autl shrugs.

Your loss. Thank you for your hospitality.

[Curses in truespeech] now I am going to have to find my own food.

[Xanyo]

Nobody answers the door.

Zaratii tries to get a look through the window, then returns to the door. Hopping up, she scrabbles at the mechanism, trying to open the door.

"KNOCK KNOCK!" she yells louder, annoyed at the deafening sound of the storm.

[Esprit15]

Zaratii tries to get a look through the window, then returns to the door. Hopping up, she scrabbles at the mechanism, trying to open the door.

"KNOCK KNOCK!" she yells louder, annoyed at the deafening sound of the storm.

There's not so much a mechanism as there is a roughly built set of boards bound by nails on a hinge. The inside of the building is quaint - a small fire burns in a stone firepit, smoke rising up a basic chimney structure. A table with two chairs, one heavily coated in dust, sits by the window. A few books with worn covers sit on a shelf. The walls are covered in animal trophies and skins - black bears, boars, deer, as well as a feathery belt that you recognize as that of an owlbear, which seems to be a centerpiece.

[Feathersnow]

After an interminable time that seems like eternity, but was probably a few minutes, Caej Zua'autl gets sick of waiting. Her wings are still setting, but she is very hungry.

Without further ceremony, she slithers off deeper into the cave in hopes she can find some kind of small creature to devour.

[Esprit15]

After an interminable time that seems like eternity, but was probably a few minutes, Caej Zua'autl gets sick of waiting. Her wings are still setting, but she is very hungry.

Without further ceremony, she slithers off deeper into the cave in hopes she can find some kind of small creature to devour.

You move deeper, and soon find a delicious first meal - a rat. Nothing grand, but your instincts lead you. Sneak, remain quiet while moving faster than your target. You see its little nose twitch and turn to face you, but it's too late! You leap, claws digging into the creature and silencing it before it can manage so much as a squeak. Your tumbling through the cave makes a little noise, and from deeper in, you hear voices, different from those of the grey humanoids near the entrance.

[Feathersnow]

Meat is good. Killing is fun. The joy of self-reliance, perhaps comparable to the glory of being worshipped...

Those orcs were fools to ignore her offer, but their rations couldn't have been as delicious as this rat.

But then... voices! They could be a threat, or potential allies. Best to learn more before revealing myself.

Caej Zua'autl tries to hide and listen to these voices.

Hide (not counting size modifiers I forget if exist in this edition) [roll0]

Listen (not counting racial modifiers I forget if dragons are supposed to have) [roll1]

[Esprit15]

Meat is good. Killing is fun. The joy of self-reliance, perhaps comparable to the glory of being worshipped...

Those orcs were fools to ignore her offer, but their rations couldn't have been as delicious as this rat.

But then... voices! They could be a threat, or potential allies. Best to learn more before revealing myself.

Caej Zua'autl tries to hide and listen to these voices.

Hide (not counting size modifiers I forget if exist in this edition) [roll0]

Listen (not counting racial modifiers I forget if dragons are supposed to have) [roll1]

You have no racial modifiers to any skill checks, unless you have a natural swim speed. I do not believe that Incarnum Dragons have those.

Size modifiers do exist in 3.5.

You quietly sneak forward, but get a little too careless as you turn a corner. Two humanoids, features far more delicate than the ashen skinned ones earlier, happen to look your way as you peak around a corner. They both are almost shirtless, red dyed cloths draped down their shoulders, leaving their chest exposed. Their limbs are also covered in this cloth, which appears thicker at the fringes. Each carries a wicker shield, and has some weapon at their hip, what appears to be a wooden club with dark stones embedded in it. Their chests, though exposed, appear to have a two square foot, rhombus shaped patch of scales. One whispers to the other in a language which is once again not the fine sound of Draconic, but which is still understood by your gifted ear. "Have you seen a lizard like that, Metztli?"

"Never, not even in the homeland."

"I wonder if it's local?"

The named one, Metztli apparently, bends down and takes something out of a pack. "It's a lizard, it probably likes meat..." In its hand you smell meat, but it's salty, and the scent of fire wafts from it. They appear to be holding it out to you.

[Feathersnow]

Caej Zua'autl tries to approximate their language. Hello! Is that for me? You are very kind and wise to offer it to me. In exchange, I am willing to offer you intelligence on the other humanoids that are squatting in your cave.

The first group of humanoids was ungrateful and boorish, but perhaps they had a point about needing her. These new humanoids weren't so standoffish, but maybe that was suspicious. Offering a trade might make them more willing to ally with her.

[Esprit15]

Metztli jumps back and drops the meat. "Great Feathered Serpent it speaks!" His companion puts a hand on the handle of his weapon and gets his shield up.

[Feathersnow]

Metztli jumps back and drops the meat. "Great Feathered Serpent it speaks!" His companion puts a hand on the handle of his weapon and gets his shield up.

What, no! I'm friendly. Not like those guys with all the dragon eggs....

[Esprit15]

The other humanoid's eyes narrow. "Others, you said. And they have... dragon eggs?" They both look at each other and then back at you. "I had heard stories, but I never expected to meet one of your kind... Please, tell me, how many of them were there? What race were they? Tabaxi?" After some thought, you do remember that they were some kind of orc. Given their skin, you're inclined to guess that they're called either ash or grey orcs - you didn't pay much attention to when Mother and Father were describing the humanoid lesser races.

[Feathersnow]

Eight grey orcs. I offered an alliance with them, but they refused, maybe you will be more agreeable. They were hired to deliver what they thought were gemstones but were actually eggs. Some of them started hatching, but the other hatchlings left some time ago.

I know they intend to meet someone after the rain stops, that might be the 'tabaxi' you speak of, I don't know . I am unsure if they mean to act in good faith or punish the buyer for lying about the nature of their cargo.

With that, Caej Zua'autl grabs the meat and starts eating.

[Esprit15]

The two humanoids share look, before the near one motions his head deeper into the cave. Metztli runs off, footsteps echoing in the darkness.

"Well, those uninvited guests will not be darkening our doorstep much longer. I am not empowered by my people to forge any alliances beyond those personal, but if you are interested, perhaps I could take you to meet someone who could. Would that be agreeable?"

[Feathersnow]

I would like that very much.

Caej Zua'autl preens! This was going along so well!

[Esprit15]

For about ten minutes, you continue deeper until some of you feel like the area is getting wider. Soon, you see a dim, greenish glow from the distance. "Ah, Huizilhuicaapetl (who-EE-zil-who-ee-KAH-peh-tle) is up that way." Your Tongues ability translates this as "South Port Town." After another minute, the cave opens back up into a wide cavern, the earlier light apparently provided by luminous fungi that grow on the walls and ceiling. In the center of the cavern you can see buildings of numerous sizes, from single story shacks to three and four story stone complexes that appear to be been hewn from the rocks. Further off, only visible because of its height bringing it close to the glowing ceiling, is a towering step pyramid. Even from a distance, the stone of the pyramid is clearly different from the rest of the buildings and the walls you had seen up to this point.

Equally striking to you are the people. While many of them look like your guide, though often not in the same military garb, a non-insignificant number of them are more reptilian in nature: tails, serpentine lower bodies, and even whole bodies covered in scales up to the snake-like head, make their way along the main and side streets of the city before you.

[Feathersnow]

It strikes me that a set up this nice might not immediately accept me as their new god. On the other hand, they seem willing to let me work my way up from "trusted ally "

[Esprit15]

It strikes me that a set up this nice might not immediately accept me as their new god. On the other hand, they seem willing to let me work my way up from "trusted ally "

Your guide continues, stopping at a squat, wood and stone building at the edge of town, attended by one of the more serpentine figures. "This humble one wishes to speak to one of our Most Blessed. A clutch of eggs was brought to our doorstep by intruders. While the intruders are being dealt with, this little one here," he says, gesturing to you, "comes offering alliance. May I guide them to Itzcoatl's residence?" The serpentine man gives you a harsh look - or maybe friend, it's hard to tell when the eyes don't blink or squint - and then nods. "Yes, but not today. I shall send word to him. Hopefully you can have your meeting tomorrow morning."

***

Metztli looks down to you as you both leave the building and continue into the stone city. "Hm. Well, that is unfortunate, but unsurprising. It is getting late - do you have a place outside to rest? If not, I'm sure I could make something somewhat comfortable at my own residence."

[Feathersnow]

I regret to say I have nowhere to stay. I would be honored to share your residence for the night.



Letting her stay as a guest in his own lair! What a show of trust and esteem!! She really was making progress!

[Xanyo]

There's not so much a mechanism as there is a roughly built set of boards bound by nails on a hinge. The inside of the building is quaint - a small fire burns in a stone firepit, smoke rising up a basic chimney structure. A table with two chairs, one heavily coated in dust, sits by the window. A few books with worn covers sit on a shelf. The walls are covered in animal trophies and skins - black bears, boars, deer, as well as a feathery belt that you recognize as that of an owlbear, which seems to be a centerpiece.

A hunter's cabin? How disappointing. I would have thought to find something more worthwhile at the end of a trail. Ah, well, I suppose I should return to our meeting place. Unless... I think I shall take a closer look first.

Zaratii pokes around a bit, trying to see if she can find anything hidden and of interest. If not, she will return to the meeting point.

Search: [roll0]

[Esprit15]

You do a surprisingly thorough run down of the cabin, but find nothing particularly interesting - a few quivers of arrows with differently feathered tips are among your more interesting finds, a few copper and silver in a pouch underneath the bed (whether you take them or not is up to you), some nicer clothes in a small wardrobe, and some food (rice flour bread, dried meat, forest mushrooms, etc.). Whoever lives here (probably that Tabaxi), they're not a particularly wealthy person, or they keep their really valuable stuff on their person.

***

You head back to the place you all agreed to meet at, to find that neither Sotet nor Khrahoa have returned from lair hunting, and the sun is getting quite low. At least the rain has let up considerably.

[Esprit15]

Khrakoa shakes the water off his wings and folds them by his side. He considers what he saw from the air as Sotet departs. A lair isn't built in a day, he figures, despite wanting very much simply to stumble upon an empty lair filled with gold and kobolds to worship him.

He turns and begins a hike up the rock slopes. Maybe it's good that there was no cave waiting for him to claim. It made the best spot, the highest peak of the mountain, the uncontested winner for a place to lair. From there, he'd be able to survey much of the domain. Even better, if the Tabaxi wanted to get at him, they'd be in for an uphill battle. Khrakoa silently smirks at his clever joke.

"Then I will seek a lair for myself as well." The red wyrmling says as he leaves the others. "Don't follow me, Gold. And best of luck finding a suitable lair for yourself, Blue."
The small cave you settle in keeps you shielded from the elements, and you spend the remainder of the afternoon exploring its depths. It spirals and snakes, but any paths become a dead end after around a third of a mile, or become so small that you cannot fit.

The morning sun awakens you, and with the sky no longer blotted by clouds, you can see an expanse of forest below you, stretching off to the horizon. Your domain. Your territory. With the rain gone and your higher vantage, you can also see something that you could not before to the south: The ocean. A thin blue strip that you can only barely make out as different from the sky.

Sotet remained in the water. She was in no condition to fight a possible aerial or land predator that might see her as an easy meal now. Besides, she had food. The body of the reptile would age nicely at the bottom of her new domain.

Once she was at the bottom, she tested the firmness. She hoped it was soft enough to dig in. To hold her pool of acid, it would need to be dug out to the bedrock. That massive task could wait though. Sotet had felt a number of things while inside the crocodile. She was interested in what they were, so she combed the inside of the carcass and the bottom.


Knowledge (Nature) vs Pond (spring / runoff fed, type of bottom) [roll0]
Search vs stomach contents [roll1]
(I think I already answered this before, but quoting for ease.)

Heal your HD+CON Modifier as you rest for the evening.

You rest for the night, licking your wounds and absentmindedly nibbling on the body of the creature that made the foolish mistake of thinking you to be prey. Being in the mountain's shadow, morning only barely trickles through the thick branches of trees, and even less so into the bottom of a pond, and you find yourself roused more by restlessness than sunlight.

You do a surprisingly thorough run down of the cabin, but find nothing particularly interesting - a few quivers of arrows with differently feathered tips are among your more interesting finds, a few copper and silver in a pouch underneath the bed (whether you take them or not is up to you), some nicer clothes in a small wardrobe, and some food (rice flour bread, dried meat, forest mushrooms, etc.). Whoever lives here (probably that Tabaxi), they're not a particularly wealthy person, or they keep their really valuable stuff on their person.

***

You head back to the place you all agreed to meet at, to find that neither Sotet nor Khrahoa have returned from lair hunting, and the sun is getting quite low. At least the rain has let up considerably.
You shelter yourself from the drizzle in a little alcove, waiting for your clutchmates. Eventually, sleep takes you before they arrive.

***

Morning comes, not particularly bright as the sun appears to be blocked by much of the mountain. Your clutchmates still have not returned. Hopefully they are well. Perhaps they have already found lairs?


I regret to say I have nowhere to stay. I would be honored to share your residence for the night.



Letting her stay as a guest in his own lair! What a show of trust and esteem!! She really was making progress!
Metztli leads you to a small building, one of the nicer ones in his district. The inside is modest - a bed, a place to prepare and eat food, and a small altar in the back, depicting a sun with a single, reptilian eye in the center with several candles circled around it. The Yuan-ti pulls out a rough blanket and places it on the side of the building opposite the bed.

(If there is anything you wish to ask your host, feel free.)

***

Morning comes, or at least you think it does. Underground here, it doesn't make as much sense to measure time by the sun, but your host assures you that it is. Metztli readies a breakfast of soup that appears to have been left from the previous night - some kind of meat, stewed with mushrooms. "So what terms do you expect out of this alliance?"

[Eonn]

Khrakoa lounges in the mouth of his cave, basking sleepily in the early morning's light. He admired the land before him which stretched to the sea. It was all his, too. At least, it should be though he knew the other hatchlings would contest such a claim. He wondered what treasures lay out there that he could not claim, what hunting grounds and mortal dwellings he could not exploit as he played at being diplomatic. Though he knew it was pointless; images of piles of gold, gems, magic items, all tucked safely inside a fortress carved into the mountain by an army of kobolds sparkled in his day dreams.

Soon, he promised himself. Until then, he had to refrain from giving the others a reason to unit against him.

Lazily, he spread his wings and stepped from his perch, gliding down the mountain side to where he was supposed to meet with the other wyrmlings.

[Feathersnow]

Morning comes, or at least you think it does. Underground here, it doesn't make as much sense to measure time by the sun, but your host assures you that it is. Metztli readies a breakfast of soup that appears to have been left from the previous night - some kind of meat, stewed with mushrooms. "So what terms do you expect out of this alliance?"

In the short term, I expect to be put to work, possibly as a fighter or some manner of scholar. In exchange I would like a steady supply of food, and a permanent dwelling I can secure to my liking. I also would like treasure or the opportunity to loot or otherwise earn treasure.

Eventually, I hope to earn political power and followers, but I expect that will take years or longer.

[Esprit15]

In the short term, I expect to be put to work, possibly as a fighter or some manner of scholar. In exchange I would like a steady supply of food, and a permanent dwelling I can secure to my liking. I also would like treasure or the opportunity to loot or otherwise earn treasure.

Eventually, I hope to earn political power and followers, but I expect that will take years or longer.


Metztli chuckles. "We'll see about combat. Scholar... Well, you're not exactly one wizened by their years of experience," he says with a bit of a chuckle. "As for 'treasure,' our soldiers are paid, though you may find the sum paltry. That said, it is quite possible that looting will come up in the next few years of service... But who knows.

"Political power though... that I think would be difficult. I do not know whether one of your kind can even become a Child of Merrshaulk."

[Feathersnow]

Metztli chuckles. "We'll see about combat. Scholar... Well, you're not exactly one wizened by their years of experience," he says with a bit of a chuckle. "As for 'treasure,' our soldiers are paid, though you may find the sum paltry. That said, it is quite possible that looting will come up in the next few years of service... But who knows.

"Political power though... that I think would be difficult. I do not know whether one of your kind can even become a Child of Merrshaulk."

Hmmm..... It is a long term goal, and I may not stay here forever. For now, I need to grow, and I wish to accumulate wealth. If my needs are seen to, even a less than impressive rate of income can build up over time. Time is a resource I have.

Privately, Caej Zua'autl is thinking she might be getting a raw deal here. Working for pay plus upkeep sounds beneath her... but some part of her nags that, even as demeaning as a job might be, it is the most secure way to advance her long term goals.

[Esprit15]

Hmmm..... It is a long term goal, and I may not stay here forever. For now, I need to grow, and I wish to accumulate wealth. If my needs are seen to, even a less than impressive rate of income can build up over time. Time is a resource I have.

Privately, Caej Zua'autl is thinking she might be getting a raw deal here. Working for pay plus upkeep sounds beneath her... but some part of her nags that, even as demeaning as a job might be, it is the most secure way to advance her long term goals.

"Indeed it is. Well, let us see if Itzcoatl is ready to meet us." The Yuan-ti leads you deeper into the city. As you travel, you see that the Yuan-ti that resemble Metztli are the most numerous, and are often running from one place to the other, while the more serpentine Yuan-ti appear to spend their time giving directions and orders to the humanoid ones. As you both continue, you get a few looks, and even children asking "Can I touch Mr. Guardsman's new pet?"

***

As was visible from further off, the stone in the inner sections of town seems different from the stone that makes up the outer buildings. While most of what you had seen seems to have been carved from plain, soft stone local to the area (many of the buildings being part of the cave itself), as you near the tall building in the center of town, the workmanship becomes more fine, brick buildings start to line the roads, and more colorful stone becomes common. Polished granite and similar stone seems to be a popular base and brick material, at first appearing just as scattered bricks in a building, until you eventually reach a large building that seems to shine even in the dimly lit cave, every brick being finely polished to make maximal use of the bio-luminescent fungus that grows on the cave ceiling and walls. Another thing is noticeable to you as Metztli motions for you to halt and steps inside the building, alone: Skulls. Around the large, open hole windows in what you imagine must be a religious temple, each brick has a single, bleached white, humanoid skull, embedded into the stone itself.

After about a minute, Metztli steps back out, a look of pride on his face. "Itzcoatl eagerly awaits you." You are led inside, to an equally sparkling interior. Along the walls alternate everburning stones and proper wooden torches, the former burning without regard to the airflow and the latter swaying as though to welcome the new arrivals. The interior has several support columns, and arranged to create concentric circles are three circular rugs, woven to have holes for the columns. The outer one, green and blue, appears to depict continents and oceans in an abstract artistic style. The second is a nearly black purple that is inter-spaced with stars. The central circle is simply black, so dark as to not have any particularly visible depth or texture. In the back of the building, a large creature, entirely serpentine except for two powerful arms at its side, is closing a book with no title and placing it on a desk somewhat scattered with papers, inkwells, and some paperweights. His body is covered in religious tattoos, and he wears little more than a cloth belt, to which are tied some pouches, and around his neck, a metal symbol of a sun with a serpentine eye in the center.

"Welcome!" the creatures says, lifting his arms high and lowering his head in a bow, before rising back to his full height. "Child of Bahamut and Tiamat, it is a pleasure and a privilege to have a creature of such noble birth come to our humble city. Please, feel free to sit or lie down on the second circle," he continues, gesturing to the rug adorned with stars. The Yaun-ti abomination slithers forward, setting himself in the central, dark ring. "Metztli has told me that you, still wet from the egg, are interested in some level of alliance, or joining our beloved society." Itzcoatl seems to look at you for some sign of agreement, before continuing. "I suppose first, what do you know about the region here? Why do you wish to join the Children of Merrshaulk?" His tone is jovial and powerful - it reminds you a little of Father's voice in your dreams.

[Feathersnow]

I confess to knowing little,
honored one. I know you live here and are clearly a vhf powerful society with much to recommend it.
I know that you live on an island, and that you share it with something called the "The Tabaxi." There are orcs on the island, but they aren't from here. They also aren't friendly or welcome.

I am offering to join your society for the same reasons I imagine most people stay in a society, the superior opportunities it would provide for long term security and short term sustenance. I hope to advance in status over time, but I am not sure that will be possible under your form of government.
If not, I suspect I will eventually leave with no hard feelings after my work for you has allowed me to secure greater size and wealth.
I am under the impression I will eventually grow into the ability to take other forms and bind soulstuff to myself. Once I have those abilities, I feel I will be come into my own and I will be clearly worthy of greater status than a mere hireling. If I can not get it here, even then, I will seek it far away from here,
where I need not come into conflict with you.

Looking back at the day so far, things did not go as poorly as she feared. The little ones did not show her the proper reverence, but that was ignorance rather than malice. This Itzcoatl seemed polite enough and the truth was, being alone and living on rats seemed beneath her. There was no point in being glorious with no one to appreciate it. More to the point, she suspected she would run out of prey eventually, and it was better to deal with the humanoids now while she had the maximum amount of good will.

Having a job wasn't, she suspected, the living as a dragon ought to, but it was a decent start.

[Deadguy]

Sotet awoke slowly. One of the joys of muddied water is the filtering of such harsh morning light. She swam to the mangrove roots before surfacing. Climbing onto the tree, she shook away the moisture gingerly. While feeling better, the punctures left by the reptile's large teach were still very much open.

They will make fine scars. She thought as she opened her wings. The appearance of a grizzled veteran suited her. It was misleading enough to be useful, considering how poorly she fared in a physical struggle.

Beating her wings several times until she could remain aloft, Sotet couldn't help but enjoy her first flight. The weather had been too poor last night. As she fly close to the tree canopy, heading back up toward the mountain, she took the opportunity to scout the terrain that fed into her new domain.


Healed 6 hp (16 / 34)
Spot vs forest [roll0]

[Esprit15]

I confess to knowing little,
honored one. I know you live here and are clearly a vhf powerful society with much to recommend it.
I know that you live on an island, and that you share it with something called the "The Tabaxi." There are orcs on the island, but they aren't from here. They also aren't friendly or welcome.

I am offering to join your society for the same reasons I imagine most people stay in a society, the superior opportunities it would provide for long term security and short term sustenance. I hope to advance in status over time, but I am not sure that will be possible under your form of government.
If not, I suspect I will eventually leave with no hard feelings after my work for you has allowed me to secure greater size and wealth.
I am under the impression I will eventually grow into the ability to take other forms and bind soulstuff to myself. Once I have those abilities, I feel I will be come into my own and I will be clearly worthy of greater status than a mere hireling. If I can not get it here, even then, I will seek it far away from here,
where I need not come into conflict with you.

Looking back at the day so far, things did not go as poorly as she feared. The little ones did not show her the proper reverence, but that was ignorance rather than malice. This Itzcoatl seemed polite enough and the truth was, being alone and living on rats seemed beneath her. There was no point in being glorious with no one to appreciate it. More to the point, she suspected she would run out of prey eventually, and it was better to deal with the humanoids now while she had the maximum amount of good will.

Having a job wasn't, she suspected, the living as a dragon ought to, but it was a decent start.
"I wouldn't call them 'unfriendly' specifically. More..." he searches for the word, and to your surprise, switches to Draconic, "cautious. They're not from this island, as you said. Some call them pirates, others raiders, wanderers, traders. They are not a settled people like us, so they prefer to be more careful with strangers.

"As to your joining us... I cannot blame you. It's a dangerous world out there. I am sorry to say though that you would never be able to advance, as you suggest. We could keep you on a sort of payroll, a residential mercenary, but you are not one of the souled races. As such, you cannot truly become a Child of Merrshaulk. There is a certain order that must be maintained, I hope you understand."


Sotet awoke slowly. One of the joys of muddied water is the filtering of such harsh morning light. She swam to the mangrove roots before surfacing. Climbing onto the tree, she shook away the moisture gingerly. While feeling better, the punctures left by the reptile's large teach were still very much open.

They will make fine scars. She thought as she opened her wings. The appearance of a grizzled veteran suited her. It was misleading enough to be useful, considering how poorly she fared in a physical struggle.

Beating her wings several times until she could remain aloft, Sotet couldn't help but enjoy her first flight. The weather had been too poor last night. As she fly close to the tree canopy, heading back up toward the mountain, she took the opportunity to scout the terrain that fed into her new domain.


Healed 6 hp (16 / 34)
Spot vs forest [roll0]

The river snakes back and forth, lazy over the fairly flat forest. You see to the south, several dozen miles away, a blue band of sky - no, that can't be right. You search your memories of The Story, and find Mother and Father discussing the oceans and seas of the world - vast bodies of salty water full of life (and danger). You also notice that the forest near the river appears to have trails that wind off of it.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa glides down, landing gracefully. He surveys the area where the dragons had planned to meet, finding only Zaratii there at the moment.

"Greetings, Blue. Were you able to find a place to lair?" He says, showing genuine interest. "It is a new day, however. We should search for something to kill and eat, then begin surveying this island. It is imperative we know of anything that could become hostile to us so that we may find where they nest before they do the same to us."

[Feathersnow]

Well, I am sorry that I will never truly fit in in here, but... I am willing to work for you until I am come into my own, and I am willing to swear to leave in peace when the time comes that we must go our separate ways.

Instinct and reason warred inside her, but in the end... there was only one choice. The people were rich and she was very young and very small. She needed all the help she could get.

[Feathersnow]

Though conflicted about both the loss of dignity in acknowledging an authority above her own whims and the constitutional dislike of commitment common to all Chaotic Dragons, Caej Zua'autl is quite sincere in attempting to secure a multi-year commitment as a mercenary to the Yuan-Ti and has no intention of betraying their trust when she inevitably leaves.

[roll0]

[Esprit15]

Well, I am sorry that I will never truly fit in in here, but... I am willing to work for you until I am come into my own, and I am willing to swear to leave in peace when the time comes that we must go our separate ways.

Instinct and reason warred inside her, but in the end... there was only one choice. The people were rich and she was very young and very small. She needed all the help she could get.

Itzcoatl looks at you closely, and silence hangs in the air for several seconds. The serpentine man gives off the aura of someone who could be a very potent ally to keep, or a frightening enemy if crossed. Finally, a deep sigh cuts the silence, and he smiles. "Perhaps I am a fool. But I also am not one to turn down gifts that offer themselves. And though we share a different heritage, I do feel some level of kinship to another scaled one.

"You'll be given a flat stipend of a gold a week, to be paid in silver pieces. Whatever you collect in battle, outside of that which you are expressly ordered to hand over as part of a job, is yours to keep - money, slaves, items, and so forth. It is slightly more than we pay our traditional infantry - I hope this shows my own good will toward you, and that this good will will be repaid." He gets up and slithers to the back of the room, looking at a map of the local area.
https://i.imgur.com/g3wRNj0.png
"Right now, we are in an uneasy peace with the Tabaxi you mentioned earlier. They are a divided people, cities trading and warring with each other based on their politics and attempts at power, but the forests prevent any island spanning empire from persisting for more than a generation. But when we first came to this island, they seemed to unite almost overnight, and drove us back into these mountains. The problems that they face in making a united island are the same ones we would face in a slow conquering, which leaves us at a standstill. And slowly expanding out of the mountains is equally worthless an endeavor - numerous hunters and hermits populate the forests, and will happily disappear into the jungle or down the river to warn of attacks. We're surrounded by enemies who have then trapped us in a natural moat..." He looks at you, and smiles. "Though if something besides a Blessed of Merrshaulk were to begin attacking Tabaxi that live alone, that might be helpful. And I certainly would love to collect some feline pelts."

[Feathersnow]

Oh. The Tabaxi must be some kind of cat. Caej Zua'autl snickers and grins.

I see, you want me to terrorize their outlying outposts, so they no longer have such a good warning system for your larger forays. Bring back skins as proof of the job done, keep anything else I find unless you specifically say otherwise. Point me in a direction and give me some salt to preserve the hides and I'll be back in a week to prove I earned my first pay.

[Esprit15]

Oh. The Tabaxi must be some kind of cat. Caej Zua'autl snickers and grins.

I see, you want me to terrorize their outlying outposts, so they no longer have such a good warning system for your larger forays. Bring back skins as proof of the job done, keep anything else I find unless you specifically say otherwise. Point me in a direction and give me some salt to preserve the hides and I'll be back in a week to prove I earned my first pay.

The serpentine man tilts his head to the ceiling before looking back at you. ”I’m just saying what would make future plans easier for us if things were to boil to a point that peace was no longer possible.

“As for any supplies you need,” he takes a small bag from his desk, the distinct jingle of coins reaching your ears, “your first week’s pay is in advance.”
Gain a small bag with 10sp. They have the same symbol you saw on the alter in Metztli’s house stamped on one side, and text that you cannot read on the other side.

[Deadguy]

The black's flight circled slightly, taking her from the forest toward the meeting place. She paused in her flight, hovering for a moment to assess the area. Upon seeing both the blue and red, she descended, landing softly.

The wounds from Sotet's struggles were readily visible but they did not seem to hinder her movements drastically. She inclined her head in greeting. "The first night has been overcome for all, it appears. Hopefully, you both found some respite from the storms."

[Eonn]

Khrakoa looks over the wounds on the black dragon's body. "What tried to eat you?" He says with a smirk.

"Anyhow, to reiterate what I just said, I believe we need to begin surveying the island. We need to figure out what's where, especially when it comes to whatever lesser races may be around." Khrakoa states authoritatively, as if the idea was not up for debate.

[Xanyo]

Khrakoa looks over the wounds on the black dragon's body. "What tried to eat you?" He says with a smirk.

"Anyhow, to reiterate what I just said, I believe we need to begin surveying the island. We need to figure out what's where, especially when it comes to whatever lesser races may be around." Khrakoa states authoritatively, as if the idea was not up for debate.

"I've already made a small amount of progress on that front," Zaratii informs, "Last night I met a Tabaxi hunter and found a trail. I followed it mountainwards and found only what seemed to be his cabin. I advise that today we, or at least one of us, follows it seawards and discovers what lies at the other end. A note on the Tabaxi: my admittedly brief and only interaction suggests that they may react to us cautious or unfriendly, though likely not with outright hostility." She prowls over to Sotet, looking over the black's injuries. "I'm pleased that you were able to fend for yourself. Will your injuries make it hard to travel? You should probably stick close to one of us for the time being, lest your wounds make you easy prey." In response to the query as to whether she had found a lair, she comments: "Sadly, this island seems to be rather tropical. Suitable for either of you, but far too wet for my tastes. I don't expect to find any desert here, so I'll probably have to make do with a sandy beach."

[Eonn]

Khrakoa snorts, a wisp of smoke being blown from his nostrils.

"If the Tabaxi are not hostile, why are they acquiring so many dragon eggs? Perhaps the one you found was frightened and played dumb. Maybe, the remaining eggs should be tracked to see what is done with them. I cannot begin to imagine what a lesser race could plan to do with so many eggs."

[Deadguy]

Sotet scoffed at the remarks of her wounds before speaking on the plans the others were making. "I've secured a suitable domain. I have no need or desire to involve myself with these Tabaxi, nor do I particularly care what great mysteries the island holds. There will be centuries for such things."

She stretched her wings out, preparing to leave. "If you're searching for beach... the river that cuts through the jungle flows out to the sea. There should be beach there."

[Eonn]

"We are doing this for our mutual protection." Khrakoa scoffs. "Maybe in a century, such a potential threat would be beneath us, but if we do not do our diligence now we will not survive that long. So fine then, leave. Don't expect us to come to your aid. Maybe you don't need us though, after all it looks like you fought off a who legion of tabaxi last night."

Khrakoa then turns away from the black wyrmling. "It looks like Gold has gone off on his own. Or died. And now the Black one is being selfish, too. Just like I said, it's me and you." He smirks. "Let us each head our own ways for now, and see what we can learn. We'll meet up here again in say, a week, to trade information."

[Feathersnow]

Caej Zua'autl realizes that not only will she have to pay for supplies, she will have to pay for lodging. This indignity is far worse than simply following orders, but she bears it stoically.

She asks Metztli for help. I need a place to stay and supplies. Where would I go about buying them? She shudders at the word "buying."

[Esprit15]

Caej Zua'autl realizes that not only will she have to pay for supplies, she will have to pay for lodging. This indignity is far worse than simply following orders, but she bears it stoically.

She asks Metztli for help. I need a place to stay and supplies. Where would I go about buying them? She shudders at the word "buying."

"There is a marketplace in town where you can purchase most living supplies. I would expect that you would want to live outside of our town, perhaps create your own lair, but if you do wish for some sort of lodging..." the Yuan-ti seems to think for a moment before answering, "stables would probably be rather insulting, but I'm sure our arcanist guild would welcome you to share housing with their familiars. We don't really have inns here, and housing is very limited."

[Feathersnow]

Hmm... I suppose finding my own place in the wilds is the most practical.
I couldn't abide sharing residence with thralls and animals, and an appartment in the city, were it even available, sounds like it would cost more than I want to spend.

But I will need twine and salt. And a bag to carry it in.

Caej Zua'autl doesn't know how to cure tabaxi pelts, but is sure it somehow involves stretching and salt.

She thinks back to the caverns she traveled through with the Yuan- Ti and tries to recall if they are dry and have any out of the way branches she could hide in. Then she remembered the Orcs would be gobs from the cave by now, and it was very near the area she ordered to terrorize.

Getting her supplies, she resolves to go back there.

[Esprit15]

"Metztli can show you around to the market district."
Things can be bought at standard market price, per the SRD.

The cavern has a few caves that led off and away as you followed the Yuan-ti into the cave that you could probably take up residence in.

You bid farewell to Itzcoatl. Before you leave, he hands you a small token, stamped with the same symbol as the coinage, and a single word on the back that you cannot read. "Something to let city guards know you are a friend. Some are a bit more... strict, than Metztli. It also will give you permission to speak to me so long as I am not in a meeting."

After collecting your supplies, you head out of the cave, and spot... several other dragons, to your surprise! One red, one black, and one blue. The black dragon appears to have several bad injuries that have recently healed over.

[Feathersnow]

Hail! You must be the other dragons I heard about from the orcs.

Did you claim this cave already? Because like it, but not enough to fight you for it. I've been hired by the Children of Merrshaulk to raid the outlyingTabaxi outposts. If you want to help me, you can have a share of the loot.

Do you know the Children of Metrshaulk? They live at the other end of that tunnel and are at war with the Tabaxi, which are some kind of cat? They might agree to pay you to be raiders too, but I can't speak for them.

Caej Zua'autl is very excited! She likes meeting new people.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa could not be more annoyed that there was yet another dragon he would have to compete with. However, he considers the newcomer for a moment before pivoting, putting on a pleasant demeanor.

"Greetings! Another egg has hatched, I see. No, if you wish to claim that cave then so be it." Khrakoa wasn't comfortable with the other knowing where he laired. At the same time, knowing where the other dwelt might prove advantageous. More importantly was this new faction, already in conflict with the Tabaxi. If Khrakoa was up for politicking, provoking the two could serve to draw the attention from either off of him. Fighting the Tabaxi? I hope the children you've met are prepared, they are supposedly plentiful in the area. The eggs the orcs were transporting were being brought to them too." The red dragon fluttters his wings, his gaze peering down into the jungle as he seems to ponder something. "I wonder what they plan to do with so many eggs? It is defiantly something worth finding out, if only they spoke a civilized tongue so that I might be able to seek out the answers myself."

He sighs dramatically. "Well, best of luck to you anyways." With that, he turns and flies off. He has yet to find a suitable lair, after all, so these next few days would likely be spent traveling along the mountain range.

[Deadguy]

Sotet seemed to care very little about Khrakoa's opinion of her was. She had just begun to flap her wings to fly back toward the jungle when Caej appeared from inside. She paused to listen to the large amount of words the new-comer voiced.

"You speak much... but, I've already shared I've no interest in the conflicts of others. I can tell you there is a river that runs to the sea beyond the jungle though."

She pointed a single claw in the direction of the river before taking off toward the tree-line.

[Xanyo]

Another hatchling, an unusual looking one. Another race, Merrshaulk? Hmm, ah. Ah, yes. Hmm.

Zaratii nods to the newcomer.

“You hatched latest, it seems, yet you have already found and made allies of a lesser race. I did not know the Yu- the Children were present on this isle. If you’re looking for cats to skin, I found one’s cabin that way,“ she indicates the direction with one wing, “Although I sniffed around and found little worth claiming. There is a trail though, leading towards the sea and, I presume, the Tabaxi. I was going to fly that way today, and see if I can find a cat worth talking to. I’ll be sure to keep the Children in mind if I am dissatisfied with the Tabaxi. At the very least I’m hoping they can tell me of any members of the greater races in the region. If they impress me, I’m considering aligning with them, to an extent. We should be sure to stay in contact, even if I do so.”

[Esprit15]

Khrakoa could not be more annoyed that there was yet another dragon he would have to compete with. However, he considers the newcomer for a moment before pivoting, putting on a pleasant demeanor.

"Greetings! Another egg has hatched, I see. No, if you wish to claim that cave then so be it." Khrakoa wasn't comfortable with the other knowing where he laired. At the same time, knowing where the other dwelt might prove advantageous. More importantly was this new faction, already in conflict with the Tabaxi. If Khrakoa was up for politicking, provoking the two could serve to draw the attention from either off of him. Fighting the Tabaxi? I hope the children you've met are prepared, they are supposedly plentiful in the area. The eggs the orcs were transporting were being brought to them too." The red dragon fluttters his wings, his gaze peering down into the jungle as he seems to ponder something. "I wonder what they plan to do with so many eggs? It is defiantly something worth finding out, if only they spoke a civilized tongue so that I might be able to seek out the answers myself."

He sighs dramatically. "Well, best of luck to you anyways." With that, he turns and flies off. He has yet to find a suitable lair, after all, so these next few days would likely be spent traveling along the mountain range.
You spend much of the day flying throughout the mountains, getting more of a feel for your future dominion. Several times you spot what seems like a promising cave, only to find it far too small for anything more than resting for the night.. Hm, that could be dangerous in the future - a place for enemies to hide and slowly advance on you. You make a mental note to find some way to deal with them when you are more powerful (than you already are, of course).

Toward the evening, you fly to the tallest peak you can find. Surely here would be somewhere fitting your nobility. You circle the peak, and about a hundred feet from the summit, you find a large cavern, probably thirty feet wide, with a wide ledge... surprisingly fit for landing on. You slow to a stall and allow yourself to gently touch down, surveying your surroundings.
The cave, while initially appearing natural, has walls that are too smooth to be formed by processes in nature.
The walls were likely shaped by some sort of magical effect - there are no tool markings on the walls at all.
There appears to be a moving light some distance into the cave.


Sotet seemed to care very little about Khrakoa's opinion of her was. She had just begun to flap her wings to fly back toward the jungle when Caej appeared from inside. She paused to listen to the large amount of words the new-comer voiced.

"You speak much... but, I've already shared I've no interest in the conflicts of others. I can tell you there is a river that runs to the sea beyond the jungle though."

She pointed a single claw in the direction of the river before taking off toward the tree-line.
You fly down, returning to your mangrove lake.

[Eonn]

In the mouth of the cave, Khrakoa hesitates. What kind of creature might cut it's way into the mountain stone in such a way? Well, what ever they were, at least they were civilized enough to make use of basic magic. The red dragon cautiously moves into the cave, going back as far as the daylight reaches.

[Esprit15]

In the mouth of the cave, Khrakoa hesitates. What kind of creature might cut it's way into the mountain stone in such a way? Well, what ever they were, at least they were civilized enough to make use of basic magic. The red dragon cautiously moves into the cave, going back as far as the daylight reaches.

The back of the cave you notice begins to slope and curve. Just as you think about stopping (when the light begins to disappear), you notice a flickering light further in, bouncing off the wall, and sounds of a scuffle. A hoarse voice shouts something in a tongue that you don't understand, "Teme-!" before a sound like several snapping branches silences it.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa braves the darkness and approaches the light as quickly as seems safe. If needs be, he can always make his own light, anyways.

[Esprit15]

Khrakoa braves the darkness and approaches the light as quickly as seems safe. If needs be, he can always make his own light, anyways.

You continue down, the walls becoming difficult to see. As you continue down, you feel the mountain surrounding you - the thought of being pinned under tons of rock surfaces in your mind, but you push it out. You see in the distance the source of the light - a humanoid, made of flame, bent over a rotted corpse with patches of fur, now well burned in many places. The humanoid stands up and looks over at you... it’s hard to read the expression, but its body language suggests possible confusion. It begins to walk toward you. The burning wound from it seems to intensify and subside in a pattern that suggests speech, but you cannot make heads or tails of what it is saying.

[Eonn]

"Do you speak the tongue of dragons?" Khrakoa says, though he doubts the odds. What could an elemental be doing here, he wonders. Was it native to the area, or was it simply summoned? He also tries to get a better look at what ever small creature lie dead on the floor, just so he may learn what was in the region.

[Esprit15]

Give me a K: The Planes check
The elemental stops around ten feet from you, still looking at you with a puzzled stance. Slowly, like it was testing out the sounds, it tries to copy your words, the crackling of fire sounding almost like words. "Do-ak-o... Do-rak-o... Dorako..." it repeats, unable to imitate some of the sounds your mouth makes, before shaking its head. It pauses, before gesturing at you. "I-ke-ka-to *single sparking sound*?" it appears to ask.

The corpse is of a badly burned Tabaxi
The corpse appears to have been dead for quite some time, and some of the ravages suggest that it had become some kind of undead.
It was a ghast before it succumbed to the fire elemental's attacks.

[Eonn]

"Well this is going no where." Khrakoa mumbles, smoke curling from his mouth. He then takes a moment to look around the cave. Does it lead deeper? He was hoping to find some kind of civilization. Specifically, Kobolds, but anyone who could summon an elemental should know at least some Draconic.

"There anyone else here?" Khrakoa asks, using the light from the elemental to look around. As he passes by the corpse, he checks to see if it had any pouches or bags that may carry treasure. He doesn't go straight to grabbing anything, however, just in case the elemental had already claimed the loot. He wasn't about to start a fight over a few scraps of gold. "Who summoned you? Summon? Spell? Magic?" He mimes casting a spell, then lets out a puff of fire and points his snout towards the elemental.

This language barrier was growing frustrating. At least he was wise enough not to head into Tabaxi territory without speaking their language.

[Esprit15]

The Tabaxi body is clothed in little more than scraps of clothing - nothing of even a pittance of value. The light from the elemental does suggest that you are in a cave that goes deeper into the mountain.

The Elemental watches your miming, and after a few seconds, motions you to follow it. You continue down the spiraling cave. With only the elemental lighting the area, it's hard to make things out, but you do spot occasional evidence of prior life - large scratch marks on the wall, scuffs all over the floor, and occasional piles of destroyed wooden planks. Finally, the fire elemental leads you to what you realize is a room. In the corners appear to be shards of broken glass, and gems that have lost all of their luster. In the center, thirty feet by thirty feet, is a massive circle, runes of High Draconic carved in some of the spaces in it, though others are scratched out. Though you recognize them innately, the meaning itself is harder to parse.
The circle appears to be a summoning circle.

This one is specifically attuned to the elemental plane of fire.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa investigate the circle. He's aware what the general purpose is, though the specifics of the magics used seemed to escape him. Not being able to learn anymore from the circle itself, the dragon explores the room in hopes to find more clues as to who was working out of this cave.

Search: [roll0]

Also, does the cave lead deeper, or is this it?

[Esprit15]

Much like in the rest of the cave, you see scuff marks all over the ground, like metal tools were swung at it and dealt glancing blows... Or something as hard as metal, you begin to think to yourself as you notice your own tail leave a small scrape against the wall as you investigate the debris in the corners of the room. Digging around more in the piles of discarded spell components, you find it - a single fleck of a dragon scale. In the light of the elemental, it reflects a red far deeper than your own, but it's nevertheless unmistakeable.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa picks at a wall with his claw, wondering how the rock could be so soft. Maybe it was conjured, rather than cut from the stone of the mountain meaning there was empty space, a cavern, beyond. Either way, it gives him an idea.

Crudely, with a claw he carves an image into the wall. A humanoid (though he'd rather use a dragon figure, he thought this would be more accurate to what happened) standing over a circle using magic, with the circle spewing forth fire. Once the crude cave drawing was complete, he tapped his claw against the image of the caster while looking towards the elemental.

"Who? Who summoned you?"

[Esprit15]

The elemental shakes its head, and then wipes a flaming hand on your drawing of a humanoid. It draws a simple stick figure of soot over it: a body, four legs, a tail, a long neck, and wings. "I-ke-ka-to *single sparking sound* *burst of heat sound*" It then gestures to the small, red scale piece that you found.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa nods. It would seem that the dragon scale was more than a spell component after all. Still, the news of another dragon with a presence in the area was grim indeed.

"Ikekato..." The hatchling chews on the word. Could that be the name of the elemental's master? It would explain the elemental's behavior, if it believed Khrakoa to be affiliated with the red dragon who summoned it. A dragon would explain the nature of the cave he was now in. Room to land, fit for a dragon, and magically carved from the mountain? In retrospect, it was obvious.

Of course, this also complicated things for Khrakoa. Another dragon, a red specifically, would not take kindly to the wyrmling claiming territory it had already claimed. He thinks for a minute.

At risk of the elemental learning he was not an ally of this Ikekato, he scratches an image of many mountains into the wall. On the peak of one, he draws a small dragon along side a fiery humanoid. Above it all, he has a larger dragon flying overhead.

"Where?" He asks, hoping the elemental can decipher his simple phrases. "Where is he? What is his territory?"

[Esprit15]

Unfortunately, the elemental is not able to decipher what you are saying, and just looks around confused. You don't recall seeing much in the way of goods or anything of value as you walked in. Everything was either destroyed or basically worthless.

[Deadguy]

Once Sotet had returned to the mangroves, she landed in the shallowed. Despite the soreness of her wounds, she knew she'd have to do more to establish her domain by ensuring no other threats were close at hand.

The rest of the day was spent stalking through the underbrush of the jungle, circling the lake further and further in an outward circle.


Spot / Listen vs ambush [roll0] / [roll1]
Hide / Move Silently vs stalking [roll2] / [roll3]
Survival vs signs of other predators [roll4]

[Esprit15]

Once Sotet had returned to the mangroves, she landed in the shallowed. Despite the soreness of her wounds, she knew she'd have to do more to establish her domain by ensuring no other threats were close at hand.

The rest of the day was spent stalking through the underbrush of the jungle, circling the lake further and further in an outward circle.


Spot / Listen vs ambush [roll0] / [roll1]
Hide / Move Silently vs stalking [roll2] / [roll3]
Survival vs signs of other predators [roll4]


Your circling ends up slightly aimless wandering away you lose sight of the pond, and you soon find yourself close to the river... You don’t think you were seen by anything, but- and that’s when you step in a brown, reeking pile of excrement, and see about 15ft away a black, furred creature, about five feet long, knee deep in the river, pawing at something in the water.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa sighs, though he did expect this outcome. What kind of dragon servant did not speak his language? Not thinking of another way to phrase the question, he tries something new. He sketches an image of a humanoid with a draconic face, horns and tail.

"Kobold." He identifies the figure. "Are there any here? Where?"

Finding kobolds would at the very least give him someone he can learn about the island from. And, if there is an established dragon in the area, the kobolds would certainly know about it as well. Most importantly, however, was that if the kobolds weren't already claimed by this other dragon, Khrakoa would suddenly have a very strong foothold in the region.

[Esprit15]

The elemental looks at the drawing, and gives a gesture which you assume to be a shrug. It appears to either not know what a kobold is, has not seen any on the island, or both.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa sighs. He wasn't able to get anything useful out of this elemental at all. Bearing his claws he shreds his sketches, leaving only a mess of scratches to tell that he's been here. Leaving the elemental behind, he heads back to the mouth of the cave. Though a nice location, there was still much more to see. He couldn't have much more daylight, however, so he would spend as long as he could exploring more in the area and spend the night here.

[Feathersnow]

After taking a relaxing nap in her new cave, Caej Zu'autl decides to go and investigate the Tabaxi her... sibling?... indicated to her.

[Deadguy]

There was no room for live and let live to Sotet. This animal could easily stray closer to her lake. Especially if it already hunted in the water. This was different than the crocodile. She had the advantage, and she intended on using it.

Inhaling, she gathered the elemental energy in her throat, mixing it with the enzymes to form the caustic sticky mucus. She spat it at the black-furred animal before taking to the sky, hovering in the canopy of branches.


Knowledge (Nature) vs animal
Breath (acid) Damage (1/2 for entangling exhalation) - reflex dc 14 for 1/2 [roll]2d10
Rounds of entangle (+1d6 damage) [roll1]
Breath Recharge [roll2]

Move vertical 20 feet (hover)

[Esprit15]

The bear begins running away down the river bank, but struggles to move quickly as the sticky acid clings to its body.

[Deadguy]

To feel the elemental energy flowing through her tiny body made Sotet feel alive! To see her prey flee made her heart race! To establish her domain brought forth pride!

This was what is was to live. Let the others dally and waste energy in mortal politics, war, and intrigues. Her place was here.


Breath damage - reflex dc 14 for 1/2 [roll0] acid
Entangle damage (1 rd remaining) [roll1] acid
Breath Recharge [roll2]

[Esprit15]

You continue to chase down the bear, spraying it with acid. When you’re sure it’s nearly dead, you swoop down into a dive, latching onto the nape of the animal and sinking your teeth into its neck. The bear rises up onto its legs and tries to paw at you, but its limbs are already weak, and it falls backward into the shallows of the river with a splash. You stand atop the bear, triumphant over your second kill.

[Xanyo]

With Sotet and Khrakoa returning to their lairs, and the unusual newcomer taking off towards the cabin, Zaratii is left alone. Seemingly the only one without a pair to call her own. The beach would be the best bet, she expects, and the Tabaxi she wishes to meet are most probably in the same direction. She would have to meet the Yuan-Ti eventually, but she wants to keep her options open for now.

Taking flight, she seeks out the path where she met the hunter. The mortal would likely be dead soon, but she cares nothing for the arrogant cat. She had already followed the path towards the mountain, and now she follows in the direction of the sea.

[Esprit15]

After taking a relaxing nap in her new cave, Caej Zu'autl decides to go and investigate the Tabaxi her... sibling?... indicated to her.


With Sotet and Khrakoa returning to their pairs, and the unusual newcomer taking off towards the cabin, Zaratii is left alone. Seemingly the only one without a pair to call her own. The beach would be the best bet, she expects, and the Tabaxi she wishes to meet are most probably in the same direction. She would have to meet the Yuan-Ti eventually, but she wants to keep her options open for now.

Taking flight, she seeks out the path where she met the hunter. The mortal would likely be dead soon, but she cares nothing for the arrogant cat. She had already followed the path towards the mountain, and now she follows in the direction of the sea.

You both fly in roughly the same direction, Caej flying first but Zaratii knowing the exact location and so flying more directly. You soon see the telltale sign of smoke, and both dive down into the treeline. The cabin sits there, as before. This time, there is visible motion inside.

[Deadguy]

The tiny dragon had no real need for the kill, but the wastefulness seemed lost on her. Using her teeth, she gnawed through the neck muscles until only the bone and spine held the head to the body. A small drooling of acid completed the task of severing the head.

Grasping it in her claws, she took to the air. Returning to her lake with trophy in tow. Bringing it to the murky bottom with her other corpse, the fishes would do the work of cleaning the skull for her. Once it was secured, Sotet did a patrol of the lake, remaining underwater. It was important to ensure no other predators made their way into her waters, at least until she could establish herself as the dominate simply by size and power.

While she swam about, she was especially watchful for any underwater structures that she might be able to utilize as secondary dens. Areas to retreat to, should she come under attack while home.


Spot vs signs of intrusion [roll0]
Search vs new hiding spots [roll1]

[Esprit15]

With Sotet and Khrakoa returning to their pairs, and the unusual newcomer taking off towards the cabin, Zaratii is left alone. Seemingly the only one without a pair to call her own. The beach would be the best bet, she expects, and the Tabaxi she wishes to meet are most probably in the same direction. She would have to meet the Yuan-Ti eventually, but she wants to keep her options open for now.

Taking flight, she seeks out the path where she met the hunter. The mortal would likely be dead soon, but she cares nothing for the arrogant cat. She had already followed the path towards the mountain, and now she follows in the direction of the sea.
You stay high in the air, following the snaking river as it winds through the jungle and toward the sea. After a few hours of relaxed flight, the river begins to split and disappear, and the jungle below fades into a swampy marsh. Right by the river, as expected, is a small clearing. Bordering the swamp is what appears to be a wall-like structure, and behind it wooden buildings in rough rows. While some sections of the town are on solid ground, many appear to be built over shallow water, and boats move back and forth in the town. Toward the ocean, the wooden walkways and boats both become larger, and many furred heads appear to man the sides as they leave and enter port.


The tiny dragon had no real need for the kill, but the wastefulness seemed lost on her. Using her teeth, she gnawed through the neck muscles until only the bone and spine held the head to the body. A small drooling of acid completed the task of severing the head.

Grasping it in her claws, she took to the air. Returning to her lake with trophy in tow. Bringing it to the murky bottom with her other corpse, the fishes would do the work of cleaning the skull for her. Once it was secured, Sotet did a patrol of the lake, remaining underwater. It was important to ensure no other predators made their way into her waters, at least until she could establish herself as the dominate simply by size and power.

While she swam about, she was especially watchful for any underwater structures that she might be able to utilize as secondary dens. Areas to retreat to, should she come under attack while home.


Spot vs signs of intrusion [roll0]
Search vs new hiding spots [roll1]

You find that there is an old, fallen tree in the water that has been partially hollowed out by time. While you remain this small, it may prove a useful place to hide, and may be a good place to dig beneath to form a more proper lair.

[Deadguy]

The hollowed tree seemed a much more secure lair than the bottom of lake, at least while Sotet was so small. She went inside and cleaned out the rotten core along with any muck that had accumulated over the years of rotting.

Once it was properly hollowed and clear, she swam back down and retrieved her trophy skulls, and her small hoard to secure them inside her new home.

If there is enough daylight remaining, she begins excavating beneath the log. While she doesn't need the space yet, having the start of an actual den will give her a place to store food and possessions as she gains them.

[Esprit15]

The hollowed tree seemed a much more secure lair than the bottom of lake, at least while Sotet was so small. She went inside and cleaned out the rotten core along with any muck that had accumulated over the years of rotting.

Once it was properly hollowed and clear, she swam back down and retrieved her trophy skulls, and her small hoard to secure them inside her new home.

If there is enough daylight remaining, she begins excavating beneath the log. While she doesn't need the space yet, having the start of an actual den will give her a place to store food and possessions as she gains them.
You rest in your lair for a few weeks, only making occasional forays out to remind wildlife that this territory was yours. When you are strong enough, you begin to shape and dig the swampy bottom of your pond out just the way you like to better hide your treasures. Meager though they may be for now, you're planning for a future of gold and gems, and as a dragon, one must always be long sighted.
Predatory animals know to stay clear of your pond if they want to avoid a fight. You also are able to easily hide from detection without making a check while in the water of your lair (unless they have special senses).


With Sotet and Khrakoa returning to their lairs, and the unusual newcomer taking off towards the cabin, Zaratii is left alone. Seemingly the only one without a pair to call her own. The beach would be the best bet, she expects, and the Tabaxi she wishes to meet are most probably in the same direction. She would have to meet the Yuan-Ti eventually, but she wants to keep her options open for now.

Taking flight, she seeks out the path where she met the hunter. The mortal would likely be dead soon, but she cares nothing for the arrogant cat. She had already followed the path towards the mountain, and now she follows in the direction of the sea.
Zaratii circles the port city to the south, scouting it out for the next few weeks and observe its comings and goings. Boats leave as the sun rises and come in around an hour before sunset, and those who don't work on boats appear to live in the many scattered houses in the miles that surround the city hub. You begin to realize why the city is set up the way it is - it's just the hub for a much wider community. Farm to market paths snake through the swamp, and small, one or two person boats are pushed by paddle and pole back and forth throughout the day bringing food from farms to the city and from the city to houses. While within the walls you count around two hundred buildings, you estimate that several thousand Tabaxi pass through the city on any given day. Most of them appear to have short, dark fur, which seems to blend in quite well with the shadows. They also appear to enjoy the water, some diving into it after fish. Out of all the buildings, a central building made out of a mix of stone and wood appears to be the most important one - many people pass in and out of it every day while not carrying food, indicating that it is important for non-market reasons. Perhaps a local government building, or a barracks, it's hard to say.

At night, the city closes the two doors that allow people past its walls, and the city goes to sleep around three hours after sundown.
If you have any other particular questions, ask and I'll let you know what you've learned. You may need to make some rolls.


Khrakoa sighs. He wasn't able to get anything useful out of this elemental at all. Bearing his claws he shreds his sketches, leaving only a mess of scratches to tell that he's been here. Leaving the elemental behind, he heads back to the mouth of the cave. Though a nice location, there was still much more to see. He couldn't have much more daylight, however, so he would spend as long as he could exploring more in the area and spend the night here.
You spend the next few weeks exploring the mountain range. Curiosity always brings you back to the dragon's lair with the fire elemental, but you are unable to get any real information out of them. The lair's inhabitant doesn't every seem to return, though. You do find more caves suitable for making a lair. The secluded location will serve nicely, though it's hard to see in the dark with your young eyes, so you don't get too much spelunking done outside of the abandoned lair. You do find a little bit of treasure there as you scrounge for anything, using the light from the fire elemental to see a little bit better.
You find a single platinum piece (One one side is a simplified face of Father, while the other is a five spoked wheel that you surmise is a symbol of Mother), 9 gold pieces (two with the face of a Tabaxi on it, seven with only a few scratch marks from wear and no other apparent symbols), and 4 silver pieces (all again with a cat's face on them).



After taking a relaxing nap in her new cave, Caej Zu'autl decides to go and investigate the Tabaxi her... sibling?... indicated to her.
(We'll still play out this first encounter before skipping you ahead, see my other post.)

[Eonn]

Darkness had made itself a nuisance more than once over the past few weeks. Khrakoa recalled he had asked the black wyrmling to meet again, but he had very little information to barter with. Instead, he considered again the dragon that once dwelt in these mountains. Was he gone, or simply hibernating? Making the wrong assumption may have him stepping on the other drake's tail, a deadly proposition at his age. No, he had be the first to learn of the other's wearabouts. This would mean finding a way to penetrate the darkness of the mountain caves. He would have to bring light with him, something that he can sustain longer than his breath.

After stashing his few coins away somewhere safe, he approaches the fire elemental again, this time trying to convince the creature to follow him on his next expedition.

[Deadguy]

Once her wounds had completely healed and her pond was complete, Sotet began forays to the river. She searched along the stretch closest to her lair first, combing the bottom for any useful trinkets the humanoids might have dropped in their endeavors, or vessels that had sunk.

Once her curiosity was sated, she began with a plan. Just upriver from her lake, she began moving stones on the river bottom. Pushing them into a large pile that caught just a small portion of the flowing water and diverted it onto the dry land.


Search vs river bottom- [roll0]
Knowledge (Engineering) vs diverting water - [roll1]

[Esprit15]

Darkness had made itself a nuisance more than once over the past few weeks. Khrakoa recalled he had asked the black wyrmling to meet again, but he had very little information to barter with. Instead, he considered again the dragon that once dwelt in these mountains. Was he gone, or simply hibernating? Making the wrong assumption may have him stepping on the other drake's tail, a deadly proposition at his age. No, he had be the first to learn of the other's wearabouts. This would mean finding a way to penetrate the darkness of the mountain caves. He would have to bring light with him, something that he can sustain longer than his breath.

After stashing his few coins away somewhere safe, he approaches the fire elemental again, this time trying to convince the creature to follow him on his next expedition.
Despite your best efforts, the fire elemental still does not seem to understand your attempts to communicate with it beyond very basic gestures. You are able to get it to follow you around its own cave, but any attempts to get it to leave are met with resistance.


Once her wounds had completely healed and her pond was complete, Sotet began forays to the river. She searched along the stretch closest to her lair first, combing the bottom for any useful trinkets the humanoids might have dropped in their endeavors, or vessels that had sunk.

Once her curiosity was sated, she began with a plan. Just upriver from her lake, she began moving stones on the river bottom. Pushing them into a large pile that caught just a small portion of the flowing water and diverted it onto the dry land.


Search vs river bottom- [roll0]
Knowledge (Engineering) vs diverting water - [roll1]
You manage to get some water to move onto dry land, though it seems to fill in with dirt and plants quickly, and not have enough 'push' to keep flowing more than a few feet onto land.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa sighs. This likely wasn't going to work. He thinks for a moment. How do the lesser species see in the darkness, he wonders. They were just about as blind as a hatchling like himself. He would have to find one of their shelters and observe what the did come night fall. As he wasn't getting any further with the elemental, he heads off to the closest tabaxi dwelling he knows of.

[Esprit15]

Khrakoa sighs. This likely wasn't going to work. He thinks for a moment. How do the lesser species see in the darkness, he wonders. They were just about as blind as a hatchling like himself. He would have to find one of their shelters and observe what the did come night fall. As he wasn't getting any further with the elemental, he heads off to the closest tabaxi dwelling he knows of.

The nearest on you had heard about from the others was to the south, a city known as Kawazawa. It takes you around two hours of leisurely flight to reach the city. The city proper is ringed by a fifteen foot tall wooden wall with small towers every two hundred feet or so, up until the wall reaches the water where it extends around 100ft into the waves before ending. It appears that there are two major entrances - one to the north east, and one to the north west, plus the port that lines the shore to the south. Buildings are built such that they sit just above the water on lifted walkways, and boats move back and forth along waterways made for them. The majority of the Tabaxi have dark fur that makes them rather hard to spot in the well shaded city, though some also have fur that is spotted, like a reversed cheetah. While most of the buildings appear to be markets or homes, some appear to be administrative or other types of government buildings.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa keeps some distance from the city. He just needs to figure out what the tabaxi do to see in the darkness before he can head back to his roost. He would probably have to wait for evening, however, so until then he explores the surrounding area. At the very least, he can find himself a dinner. All the while, he is cautious not to reveal himself. He stays high up, in or about the foliage, trying not to bring attention to himself. Trying, of course, being the operative word, as his ruby red scale only blend in so well to the surroundings.

Some rolls you may want:
Hide: [roll0]
Move Silently: [roll1]
Search: [roll2]
Spot: [roll3]
Survival: [roll4]

[Esprit15]

Khrakoa keeps some distance from the city. He just needs to figure out what the tabaxi do to see in the darkness before he can head back to his roost. He would probably have to wait for evening, however, so until then he explores the surrounding area. At the very least, he can find himself a dinner. All the while, he is cautious not to reveal himself. He stays high up, in or about the foliage, trying not to bring attention to himself. Trying, of course, being the operative word, as his ruby red scale only blend in so well to the surroundings.

Some rolls you may want:
Hide: [roll0]
Move Silently: [roll1]
Search: [roll2]
Spot: [roll3]
Survival: [roll4]

You have an easy enough time hunting down a small boar, though the fight is a bit loud. After killing it, you quickly drag it away, and not a moment too soon, as several Tabaxi hunters wander into the clearing that you attacked in, following the sound of squeals and your less than quiet growls. You remain out of sight though.

At night, the Tabaxi appear to travel by torch light, though some appear to get around just fine in the moon and star lit night, though not well enough to suggest that they see perfectly.

[Eonn]

Of course, they carry fire with them! It makes sense, really, even though it's no where as bright as his own fire, Khrakoa can see how the sustained light would be of more use in the darkness.

Under the cover of night, Khakis sneaks into the town. He sticks to darkened roof tops, looking for torches left unoccupied while trying to keep out of sight of the tabaxi. Life would be easier, he believed, if they did not know a dragon was planning on establishing itself nearby.

[Esprit15]

You fly hopefully unseen over the city, gently landing on one of the wooden roofs. Most of the buildings appeared to have one or two torches placed in little holders near places of entry. You surmise that this makes it easy to see when someone is sneaking into a building. But who would...

"Hai, kochira eh."

Your ears pick up what must be a Tabaxi voice... no, two voices. About a block away, two dark furred Tabaxi walk cautiously on the walkway in what seems to be your general direction. You can't understand what they are saying, but... You look down. You hadn't noticed it, but your landing apparently did cause a branch that had fallen on the roof to fall onto some garbage below. They haven't seen you yet, but they may have heard you.
You have around ten seconds before they reach you

[Eonn]

Khrakoa's eyes flick between the torch and the coming patrol. Would it be possible to help one of the torches, snuff it out, and fly off with it before the incoming tabaxi saw him?

[Esprit15]

Khrakoa's eyes flick between the torch and the coming patrol. Would it be possible to help one of the torches, snuff it out, and fly off with it before the incoming tabaxi saw him?

You reach down to grab one of the torches, but underestimate the distance. In reaching down, you tumble head over teakettle to the ground, making a loud crash and knocking the torch to the ground, where it rolls off the dock and into the water below. Panicked, you take flight before the Tabaxi can get sight of you.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa flutters off. There seems to be plenty of these torches around, and he doesn't plan on being denied. As a worse case scenario, he could come back to grab the second torch once the guards move on.

[Esprit15]

It takes you a few tries, but eventually you do manage to swipe a torch without being seen by the guards.

[Eonn]

As happy as a dog with a bone, Khrakoa flutters back to his cave to plan his next move. It's late now, too late for exploring, but come tomorrow he can begin searching through some of the more promising caves now that he has a way to bring light with him.

[Esprit15]

Tomorrow comes, sunlight peaking into your cave.

Your torch has also burnt beyond the lit section, and around half of it is charred black.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa is a bit annoyed that the torch had burnt out. Should he have thought to snuff it out before even leaving the town? No. The Tabaxi should have made their torches burn longer. Still, now that he's seen their construction, making a new one shouldn't be too much of an issue, even if it meant he had to get his claws dirty. What would he need? A straight stick, something dry that can be wrapped around the head and some kind of flammable fluid?

The stick would be simple to find. For the wrappings, he looks through the rubbish left in the cave by it's previous tenant. Maybe there was some discarded cloth or rope? If not, he recalled that some trees have dry, parchment like bark that could be used. As for the flammable liquid, he produced enough of that himself for his own fire breathing. With his objective settled on, he goes about making a torch.

[Esprit15]

You're able to easily enough find some scraps of cloth in the cave - a good thing too, as those stories of papery barked trees came from dryer regions than the island. After a few tries of getting the cloth wrapped in a way that lasts, you find yourself in possession of a finer torch than any foolish Tabaxi could make.

Probably.

[Eonn]

Armed with the best torch ever, Khrakoa sets off to the most promising looking cave.

[Esprit15]

Now equipped with a light, you make your way through the cave. While it was hard to see before, you now can tell that the entry leads into what appears to be a foyer, with two large holes that lead to rooms, and the path toward the back that you took the first time.

In the left room are several large, dust covered cushions, covered in heavily scuffed leather, and a large, circular board, twenty feet in diameter. Inside the board is a square section that looks like some sort of abstract world map. Outside of it are four semicircles, which appear based on the four elements, and then an outer circle that seems designed to rotate. This outer ring is decorated with a myriad of terrains and locales that feel familiar from the story told by Mother and Father, though their significance escapes you. You look around for anything of apparent value in the room, but aside from the strange... map(?) you find nothing.

The room to the right appears entirely void of anything that it once held, save for scraps of paper, cloth, and wood. You do find a few (22 in fact) copper pieces as you rummage through the wreckage.

Going deeper, you again run into the fire elemental, and the now well charred corpse from last time you explored here. The cave corkscrews and twists far more down here, though the large amount of space means that it is still not a problem for you personally. Many small corridors that seem more your size lead off to frustrating dead ends, and you soon learn to just ignore them (though one did contain, strangely, a humanoid sized writing desk, and nothing else). Finally, you reach a stone wall at the end, which you estimate is after around half a mile of path in the mountain.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa gathers up the coins. While they're not that valuable, perhaps they might be useful for paying off one of the various humanoid races around, leaving the gold safe with him. The coins are neatly stacked and stowed in the far side of the ritual room.

He then turns his attention to the only other thing of real interest, the map. He shoulders it into the ritual room as well, over to where he had placed the coins. With the elemental providing light for the room, he snuffs out his torch. Having noticed that pieces of the board are meant to move, the young dragon plays with it for a time, trying to see if the map may reveal more secrets to him.

If not, he begins thinking of other caves in the area that may either hold treasure or signs of the other dragon. He should still have plenty of time left to explore one, after all.

[Esprit15]

Rotating the map, you notice that there are sections marked out, and that many of them are linked by lines to nearby locations. As you rotate the outer ring, its own lines link and disconnect from the inner circle. Playing around some more with the table, you also notice drawers on opposing sides of it. Pulling one open, you find twenty ivory figurines, and five rods with beads built into the bottom of the drawer (think like an abacus). The beads on each rod are all the same color, and have a label next to them written in Draconic - black beads (Beings of Positive/Negative Energy), green beads (Beings of Nature), white beads (Beings of the Material Plane), red beads (Beings of Magic), and blue (Beings of the Planes). In the opposite drawer you find the same, except that the exact figures are slightly different, and made of obsidian instead.

It takes you a few seconds, and then you realize... this is a board game. But what kind of board games would dragons play?

[Eonn]

'Strange,' Khrakoa thinks. 'Though interesting non the less.

He takes some time to look over the board and figures, but seeing as he doesn't quite know the rules the game is quick to pack it back up after he gets a good idea of what something like this might be worth.

Then, with his torch, he sets out to do a bit more cave exploring. Leaving his temporary den, he tries to recall a nearby cave that seemed promising. One that was carved similarly to the one he now perched in would be ideal, as such a cave might have more clues to the whereabouts of this other dragon, but any cave that might be hiding treasure is fair game as well.

Appraise on the game table: [roll0]

[Eonn]

With his lair fully explored and no signs of similar caverns elsewhere in the mountains, Khrakoa decides it is time to grow his hoard. But, where would a dragon find valuables in this region? The Tabaxi village seemed like the the best place, but he judged that any significant amount of wealth would be well defended. He wasn't ready for a war just now. In fact, he preferred the Tabaxi not know about as presence at all, at least for now.

The Yuan-Ti were similar, though with the reptilian humanoids dwelling in a cave even reaching them without alerting their guards would be more difficult.

Then again, who said the civilized races were the only ones with treasure? Lesser races (even lesser than the Tabaxi and Yuan-Ti, that is) like goblins could have already done the hard work of extracting the wealth from the various towns, he would just need to collect from them. Finding them, it seemed, would be the only issue.

With a grin, he took wing from his mountain lair. If there were such tribes in the region, he would find them. Even if he had to chart the whole island first.

[Esprit15]

With his lair fully explored and no signs of similar caverns elsewhere in the mountains, Khrakoa decides it is time to grow his hoard. But, where would a dragon find valuables in this region? The Tabaxi village seemed like the the best place, but he judged that any significant amount of wealth would be well defended. He wasn't ready for a war just now. In fact, he preferred the Tabaxi not know about as presence at all, at least for now.

The Yuan-Ti were similar, though with the reptilian humanoids dwelling in a cave even reaching them without alerting their guards would be more difficult.

Then again, who said the civilized races were the only ones with treasure? Lesser races (even lesser than the Tabaxi and Yuan-Ti, that is) like goblins could have already done the hard work of extracting the wealth from the various towns, he would just need to collect from them. Finding them, it seemed, would be the only issue.

With a grin, he took wing from his mountain lair. If there were such tribes in the region, he would find them. Even if he had to chart the whole island first.

You spend around a week surveying the island. While you get a good idea of the layout of the island, discovering several other Tabaxi cities, you do not locate any other civilizations on the island. Even the scattering of ruins you find overgrown by jungle appear to be built by Tabaxi.

The one thing you do notice though is the other inhabitants of the forests. While the usual assortment of animals both mundane and fantastical is present, more surprising is the amount of undead that seem to wander the forests, especially the eastern edge of the island, where you do not observe any cities. While some are mere zombies and skeletons, others appear far more deadly. You take some level of comfort in your ability to fly, not having to traverse the forests on foot.

[Eonn]

The undead peak Khrakoa's curiosity. While they were disgusting beings, they had to be coming from somewhere. Whether that place was a necromantic ritual site, blighted town, defiled graveyard, or cursed battleground, there was sure to be treasure left around. All Khrakoa has to do is figure out where the originating from. While keeping well out of reach, the little red dragon tries to find where the population is the most dense.

[Esprit15]

There are two locations that seemed particularly dense: A section of jungle to the south west of the central mountain range, where numerous skeletons, zombies, and similar undead wandered; and the largely uninhabited eastern end of the island, where more of the powerful undead seemed to make their homes.

[Eonn]

Deciding not to risk biting off more than he can chew, Khrakoa decides to investigate the section south west of the mountains.

[Esprit15]

Looking around and following some of the undead as they wander, you find a clearing in the jungle (though the trees seemed to be in the process of reclaiming the area). The ground is slightly elevated into a hill, the top of which appears to have some sort of building, low and box-like. Around the hill are numerous thin, grey stones stood upright - gravesites, your teaching tells you. Amidst these stones, zombies and skeletons wander. Some occasionally look up at you and reach outward, but you're far to high for them to ever hope to reach, even if they could climb the trees (which you had seen some do, so best be cautious).

[Eonn]

Khrakoa circles around the clearing, careful not to loose too much altitude. His focus is on the central building. If the roof is both clear of the undead and inaccessible to them, he will perch there to rest his wings. This might be exactly what he was looking for, but he wants to get a better idea of this building holds in store for him first. Peaking over the sides (when none of the undead are nearby, of course) he looks over what entrances lead into the structure. He also would like to take a peak inside, but would not give up his advantageous position to do so. Not yet, anyhow.

If one of the zombies is ably to threaten him, Khrakoa is quick to take off back into the air.

[Esprit15]

You are able to easily land on the flat top of the building. Some of the undead look in your direction and slowly begin to wander over, but you have a little bit of time to peer over the sides. There appears to be only one entrance, a hole in the stone. Inside you can spot a tall, stone door. Flanking the door on each side are life size statues of what are either angry Tabaxi or jaguars that sit atop sliver colored pedestals. In print that you can barely see, and are rather surprised is a form of Draconic, are runes that from here you can make out 'conjuration' and 'protection.' A better reading would require getting close, and would risk you being trapped by the undead.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa lets the roaming zeds congregate around the stone building. The tighter they are clustered, after all, the more he can light ablaze in a single breath. With uncharacteristic patience, the red dragon burns away all the undead who dare stray too close, hoping to at the very lest clear out enough that he will not have to worry about being cornered inside the structure.

[Esprit15]

It takes several minutes, and as they get closer, you notice that the zombies seem... tougher, than you would expect. Most go down in two breaths, but some hold strong and take a third. Still, your capacity to clear an area from a distance keeps you safe. As the zombies thin out and stop approaching, you hear a raspy voice from inside - it appears to speak the same language as the tabaxi. You then hear (and feel) a heavy door slam shut.

[Eonn]

With the majority of the zombies now charred husks, Khrakoa cautiously hops down from his perch. It seems that someone else is within the structure. The necromancer, maybe? A dangerous prospect for a small dragon. Before he goes into the stone building, however, he pokes around the desecrated burial ground for any thing that might hold value.

[Esprit15]

One of the graves immediately catches your eye - a distinctive twinkle of reflected light to suggest something precious shines from within the dirt plot. You quickly take wing to investigate. A mostly rotted limb sits in the grave, and on the second finger is a silver band with a blue gemstone in it.

As you look up from your find back toward the crypt, you see two humanoid figures approaching you, trying their best to keep behind some of the larger headstones. Unlike the zombies, their movements appear controlled and intentional. Though they still appeared to be some form of undead, they were no zombies.
Map of the current situation. Combat hasn't started, but nobody is getting a surprise round if things do spark off. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16-aVz799Hlp2V1oOYilIqOaqlPw1_fGqnyg8JkV5dOM/edit#gid=1030324235)

[Eonn]

Khrakoa claims the ring for himself, keeping am eye on the lurking figures. He instinctively raises his wings, ready to take to the air if he's attacked.

[Esprit15]

The creatures run from cover toward you, but you take to the air.

[Eonn]

The red dragon turns about mid air, strafing the undead with his fiery breath as he passes overhead.

"Begone from my domain, disgusting creature!" He screeches from on high, circling as he ready himself for another run.

[roll0] Fire Damage, DC 13 Reflex for half. [roll1] rounds until recharged.

[roll2] Initiative, in case need it. I'm not sure if this is a going to be a real fight or not yet.

[Esprit15]

The undead pair dive from the flames, running back into the structure. You can see them peering out from the sides occasionally, but they seem unwilling to come out at this point.

[Eonn]

Khrakoa hisses. How dare they not simply stand still and die by his fire! Still, he cannot let them stop him from advancing. He stretches his wings as far as they go, going into a slow glide, then points his nose towards the entrance of the structure. If his plan works, he should be able to glide close to the door, unleash his fire, then make a sharp turn away before they knew what hit them. Unless the undead were already standing at the ready, it was unlikely they'd get more than a swat in at him.

[Esprit15]

One of the undead falls to the burst of flame, but the other stands strong, if only just. It looks at the situation, and flees further into the building.