The Sword of Roses (IC)

[DigoDragon]

Chaarix nods. "Good! Because we..." She eyes the side of the hull. "Are going to sink the ship!"

She lets that dramatic proclamation hang in the air.

The two kobolds glance at each other in confusion. Who knows what they might be thinking of Chaarix at the moment. Neither protests the idea, however.

"Okay, so... how do?" Zuri asks.

[Miltonian]

"Simple," Chaarix says, smug, "I'm going to break a hole in the hull. We'll swim out and the ship will sink. We'll use the distraction to slip into town somehow."

[DigoDragon]

Zido holds his breath now, expecting the worst. Zuri looks at him, then to Chaarix, then shrugs. "Well, better do it now before the humans show up."

[Miltonian]

Chaarix chuckles and flexes her claws. "Right away, my little minions!"

And then, she cheerfully tries to tear the floor apart. She figures her claws will tear through it easily. Wood is a weak material, right?

Spoiler

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(3d6)[10]
(1d6+1)[3] Cutting Damage

[DigoDragon]

Zuri catch on and help pull back the boards. Water quickly pours in, making it hard to tear through the hull.

Feeling panic set in, Zido pushes Zuri aside. "Everyone get back!" He casts a spell on the floor. The wood seems to spring to life and as if a great yawn, the floor pulls itself open. The force of water hits hard, pushing both kobolds back as the ship immediately sinks into the bay. The two kobolds hold their breath and latch onto to Chaarix. The ship now has a giant hold to fit through.

[Miltonian]

Two kobolds clinging to her back, Chaarix forces her way out of the hole in the boat and into the harbor. Fortunately for her, dragon's general toughness makes it so the saltwater does not sting her eyes. There is no time to debate or worry about this. She needs to find a large dock or something that she can surface under for some air and to take a look around the harbor. But, it needs to be wide enough to conceal her...girth.

She's not fat! She is exactly the right size for a dragon. Maybe a little lean, even.

[DigoDragon]

Chaarix, the slim-lined dragon, finds a wall of crates set up in a U shape with heavy canvas draped over it. She can easily hide under that. Humans pass by, look in that direction, and... seem to somehow not notice. Maybe it was the wind.

Hidden under the tarp, Zido just slides off Chaarix's back and curls up trying to catch his breath as quietly as he can.

Zuri is trying to pry open the crates to see what's inside them.

[Miltonian]

Chaarix slips behind the crates and curls up behind them, letting the two kobolds catch their breaths. "And now," she says softly, "We are in the city. And no one is the wiser." She smirks, both internally and externally. Flawless plan. Absolutely flawless. She was brilliant. No human could ever outsmart her.

She looks at Zuri trying to pop the crates open for a look inside. "If you find anything useful," she says, "Do let me know." She reaches over and pats Zido. "We'll rest here a moment, I think."

[DigoDragon]

"If you find anything useful," she says, "Do let me know."

Zuri finds some bolts of cloth and scissors. She tears two large squares for herself and her brother to cover themselves like cloaks. She then holds onto the scissors for a weapon. "Should we wait until nightfall?" Zuri asks as a whisper.

She reaches over and pats Zido. "We'll rest here a moment, I think."

This comforts Zido. He draws closer to Chaarix and relaxes next to her, resting from the big spell and near-drowning experience.

[Miltonian]

Chaarix looks over Zuri's work and makes a play-pouting face. "Aw. Now I can't see you two's lovely scales." She giggles slightly and sticks her tongue out at them teasingly. She is relaxing now, satisfied with her own cleverness. "Yes. I see no reason to make poor Zido here run around for the moment. We shall wait until nightfall."

She is feeling very generous at the moment and well-disposed towards the male kobold. He did excellent work. As he draws closer, she pulls him even closer than that, snuggling him under one of her wings.

[DigoDragon]

Zido seems content under Chaarix' wing and gets a good rest.

Zuri stands watch, and for the time it seems that there is talk about the boat that sank, but no one mentions who sank it. After a couple hours the trio hear humans chatter about a dragon sinking the boat, but equally some kind of sea serpent, or perhaps the sailors were too drunk... no story is kept consistent, which suitably means there isn't a search party formed to figure it out. Finally sunset arrives and darkness is coming. Humans have moved on from the sunken boat to have dinner and go home for the night. Now, there's just a few humans finishing business and the occasional armed guard patrolling the streets for trouble.

Zuri looks at at Chaarix. "What's the plan?" she asks.

[Miltonian]

Chaarix almost dozes off herself. She would never tell him this, but she does enjoy having the little kobold snuggled up to her. She refrains, though, so as not to draw attention with heavy breathing.

When night falls, she does gently shake Zido awake. "Alright," she whispers, "Now the plan is to avoid the guards and make our way deeper into the city. The lord of the city lives in the center, if I'm not mistaken, so we are going to get to the rooftops and, quietly, glide our way over there. Humans don't see well at night, right? We should be able to just glide across the rooftops. The shadows and my darker scales should..."

She thinks for a moment. "Well, my scales should be fine so long as we have some clouds so they don't glitter in the moonlight."

[DigoDragon]

Zido is awake and stretches. He seemed to have gotten an excellent nap in.

Zuri peeks out to the sky. "Well, there are lots of clouds. The city lord should be in the big castle near the middle of the city. Can't miss it."

"How do we get inside though?" Zido asks. "The windows and most doors are made to... well not made to accommodate... a dragon's majestic form, right?"

Zuri scratches her chin. "Well the front doors are big enough, but they'll be guarded and I don't want to fight the entire castle."

[Miltonian]

Chaarix grins. "Oh, I don't intend to fight them." She gestures dramatically. "I intend to fly down in the dead of knight, in all my fearsome glory, and demand to speak with their lord. I have a feeling that he will bandy words with me, a dragon who shows up unexpectedly in the middle of the night."

[DigoDragon]

The two kobolds look at one another, then back to Chaarix.

"Okay, but... what if the guards just outright attack us?" Zuri asked.

[Miltonian]

Chaarix chuckles and her teeth crackle with electric sparks. "Then I fry them and find less suicidal guards."

[DigoDragon]

"I still prefer my wolf-disguise idea," Zido says.

"She's a dragon, though," Zuri responds. "Two tons of human-crushing power. Come on, don't you want to see those big, muscular limbs smash through those castle doors?"

Zido looks up at Chaarix, then back to his sister. "Maybe a little smashing..."

Zuri chuckles. "Alright, guess we're doing the direct approach."

[Miltonian]

Chaarix nods. "Now...you can come with me, or you can stay here. That is your choice, but if you do come, be sure not to get in the way."

[DigoDragon]

"Oh we're coming along," Zuri demands. "Not gonna let you start trouble by yourself!"

Zido nods. "Yeah, could use our skills."

[Miltonian]

Chaarix nods, pleased. "Then you will come with me, and witness my glory." At least, so she hopes. She is confident she can take the rank and file soldiers the humans might have. However, if they have a mage, she might be in trouble.

She hates mages.

"Climb aboard," she instructs.

[DigoDragon]

Zuri and Zido carefully climb up onto Chaarix' back and hold on.

Maybe the mage has an early bedtime?

[Miltonian]

And with that, Chaarix strains her hearing to sense the movements of any guards. When there seems to be a lull, she brushes the tarp aside and casually takes to the air. She hopes that unhurried movements will not alert the senses of any unfortunate onlookers.

[DigoDragon]

Unfortunately, Chaarix's luck is not starting off well. She is spotted by a couple guards and they ring bells to alert the night shift.

However, the guards cannot fly and have to run through the streets and around buildings to search for her, so she still has a head start to get to her destination. How will she approach?

[Miltonian]

And things were going so well...

No matter! They were slow and she didn't have to avoid buildings. Spreading her wings wide, she makes her way straight for the fortress. She intends to land right on top of the main gate so she can stare imperiously down from on high, like the president of a home owner's association at all the people who let their grass grow a few millimeters too long. From there, she intends to loudly address them and get everyone's attention.

[DigoDragon]

Nothing stops her from accomplishing that plan. Chaarix lands on the framework above the main gate, which groans under her weight, but manages to hold up. For now. She probably shouldn't jump on it if she doesn't want it to break.

Perched over the entrance, the two guards below freeze with surprise at her arrival, staring at the dragon as if she had three heads. Well, Chaarix sort of does. The two kobolds on her back whisper dibs on who gets to attack which of the two guards, ready to fight past them if it comes to that.

[Miltonian]

Chaarix beats her wings and lets out a mighty roar, putting in the fiercest display that she can. As the sound echoes through the city, she looks down at the guards below and bellows. "You! If you do not wish to see me start setting this town ablaze, then bring out someone to who can give me satisfaction for the wrongs you have done my family!"

For the moment, she ignores the kobolds. Now is not the time to seem distracted.

[DigoDragon]

The two guards just turn and run away in fear. They are not paid enough to handle this. The roar does attract the attention of people inside the castle, though Chaarix is unsure what they're going to do about it.

Somewhere off in the city is the faint yells of guards trying to gather and organize. Might still take them a while to get here.


Zuri points to the castle main doors. "Let's just break inside ourselves like we own the place."

[Miltonian]

Chaarix eyes the door. She could, perhaps, get through. However, that would severely limit her options. Once inside, she doubted she could fly away. In fact, she wonders if that is how they captured her sister...

Still, standing here is doing no good. So, she drops down into the courtyard and begins strolling towards the door. "You," she snarls, "Imprisoned my sister. Come on. You had to expect some sort of consequences. Well..." She rears up and bellows. "HERE THEY ARE! Come out! Come out and I may yet show mercy. Cower and everything that follows will be on your head!"

[DigoDragon]

When Chaarix reared up, the two kobolds riding her found their ride suddenly awkward to stand on. Zuri managed to hold on, but Zido slipped off and landed on the ground with a soft thud. He didn't look hurt, just winded from the sudden shift.

A human opens the main door and steps out. He has a loaded crossbow in his hands. "My, you are a loud one. I see why any sister of yours would take refuge inside a castle with thick stone walls to drown out the noise. Now then, brave as you may pretend, you are vastly outnumbered here. The city guard will arrive in seconds and the town lord's wizard will be out shortly to turn you into a frog if you dawddle longer. How are you certain your sister is here?"


"Oh I saw that you lot captured a dragon!" Zuri shouted. "With fancy chains you forced on her. Probably in your dungeon now!"

"Didn't know kobolds were a fashion accessory. Rather noisy one at that."


Zido recovered to stand up and start casting. A sharpened stone appeared in his hand. "You heard our mistress! Surrender the other dragon or we're going to rearrange your face like a potato."

The human raised his crossbow at Zido. "You don't.... wait. Potato?" the human asked. "Okay, I haven't heard that one before. How does that even work if potatoes don't have faces?"

"They got eyes!"


Zido hurled his stone missile at the human. The human shot back at the two essentially traded blows. The human covered his face in time, but still took a painful bruising to the head. Zido took the crossbow bolt as a glancing cut on his chest.

"You're worse than the court jester. No matter," the human hissed. "My trap is already set. Just hold still a second longer."

[Miltonian]

Chaarix glowers down at the man. "Perhaps we could have negotiated," she says, "Perhaps you could have even won my allegiance. But no, you are nothing but the dust from which you were born. And even if you kill me, my father shall raze this city to the ground."

Chaarix spreads her wings and flaps a few times, rising a few meters into the air. She is no longer where she was, as she has NO intention of holding still. Lightning crackles across her teeth, and she lets loose a burst of lightning that fills the courtyard. Part of it heads directly for the man, following shortly on the thrown stone.