The Court of the King in Rags

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

Thariza glances back and forth nervously.

"Well, yeah, sure. This creature is dangerous. But what do you want to do to him... or it... on your own? He's got his own dragon, in addition to who knows what else."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

Ambrosia's eyes narrow at first and it looks she is about to say something but changes her mind at the last moment.

Her features turns calm and collected once more and she nods to Thariza. "You have yet to see much of me, Thariza but I am much more than that poor slave. Is there anything I can do to make you trust me on this? Frankly, I've spend too long in this body and need release. Ruining this creatures day seemed like a way to stretch my wings."

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

Thariza rubs her snout. This is getting serious. And a little scary. This creature really got to Ambrosia. It's probably time to diplomatically back off.

"Alright, I'll trust you. I'll guard your other body while you... do whatever you need to do."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

The scholar nods sagely. "Thank you, Thariza. But don't worry, as I said when we walked through the swamp, I dragged this storm with me and it should be able to cover my retreat if I encounter anything unexpected while I negotiate." Yes, 'negotiate'.

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

"I really hope you know what you're doing." Thariza shifts uncomfortably. "You're my best friend and you've shown me how to live without obeying someone's orders. So come back in one piece, okay? Now let's get to where you want to leave your other body."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

Ambrosia doesn't seem to have been ready for this emotional farewell.
Though all of sudden it stops raining and the thunder ceases. The sky is still dark but for now the worse of it has ceased.

She puts a hand on Thariza's shoulder and squeezes it. "Let's not make our farewells yet, okay?" She looks to the sky. "Let's leave this place and then we'll talk. For real."

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

Thariza nods. This sudden expression of emotion seems to have embarrassed her somewhat.

"Right. Let's go," she says.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

Ambrosia returns the gesture and then turns and walks over to the king. "We shall take our leave now, but we thank you for your hospitality." She bids him with a courteous nod. "Farewell."

Then she will turn to take her leave.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

Once they've been walking through the swamp for a while, back in the direction they came from, Ambrosia seems to have found a spot dry enough to sit down on. "We're going to stop here. So if you just excuse me for a moment..."

She will then cross her legs and get into a meditative pose. Breathing out as she slowly closes her eyes...

The next moment an all too familiar dragon appear before Thariza. Right now its roughly the size of Thariza herself and smiles gently to her.

Then the dragon will attempt to put the charr in a embrace. Hugging her tightly. "Know that I appreciate your friendship, Thariza..." She can hear its voice echo within its head.

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

The King in Rags simply says: "Thank you for deigning my court with your visit" before Thariza and Ambrosia suddenly seem to cross the distance to the exit in a flash.

Later, once they've stopped, Thariza experienced something unfamiliar. This is the first time the Charr has ever been hugged. Charr aren't affectionate people, by and large. But she does hug Ambrosia back with all her considerable strength.

"And I appreciate yours. Good luck out there."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

The dragon is feeling oddly fluffy when Thariza returns the hug. Perhaps not what she might have a thought a dragon would feel like.
"Have no fear, Thariza. I won't abandon you. I will return soon." The dragon promises before letting go and ascending towards the sky, soon disappearing into the black clouds.

Soon afterwards the storm intensified again but this time only around the building in the middle of the swamp and the lighting strikes only seem to draw closer.

The king can no doubt now tell that this is no natural storm. Something is challenging his power in this region and its steadily growing stronger. As strong wind blows in lighting suddenly strikes the building.
However, that's not going to be the worst thing that happens to it today as moments later a chunk of the clouds above the chapel seem to break free and fall upon it like a enormous rock.

If a cloud could have intentions it seems like this one intends to crush the roof of the building and for a cloud it seems rather heavy. It will slam into the roof with tremendous force, far more than any ordinary roof could handle. Especially with the building in such disrepair.

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

The roof doesn't look like it should withstand this impact. And it doesn't; it crumbles inwards like so much rubble and dirt. But then... it starts rising up, as if the process of its destruction was being rewound. Undone, as if a story that has never actually happened. Ambrosia might find herself pushed back while it happens, but she can try resisting it and forcing her way in nonetheless.

"Ah. I wondered why my dragon interested you so keenly." The King's voice comes from all the trees around the court, in a dissonant chorus. "It is not a wise battle you have chosen to begin, scholar."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

While the chunk of cloud did indeed take on the serpentine form of a dragon as it fell from the sky, that might just have been an illusion. Since as the damage to the building is simply undone the black cloud creature raises into what seems to be a triumphant roar but doesn't actually make a sound and then just disperses into mist.
However, it leaves behind a very real enormous hunk of ice which weight will now be left resting on the roof, slowly melting away like a gigantic piece of hail.

Then more lighting in the distance, soon followed by thunder and within it a voice.

Battle? This is pest control.

Then another chunk of cloud falls from the sky, aiming to crush another part of the little keep.

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

"You think me a pest? I am sorry to hear that you have learned so little from our conversation."

The roof opens up on its own now and a dead tree begins growing up from it, carrying the ice upwards with it. Another part of the court is crushed, then the rubble vanishes as if it was never there to begin with, another wall replacing the crumbled one.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

Thunder follows, but no additional chunks of ice fall onto the keep yet.

But with the thunder the voice resumes.

I learned that you see yourself as a king. Yet I haven't seen any real proof of it.
Since we both know how these stories play out don't we? The dragon attacks the kingdom and the king has a knight go out and slay it in single combat.

Yet while I've seen the squalid swamp you call a kingdom I haven't see a single knight, or even a servant, coming out to face me. So until then I'm going to treat you as a pretender. A pest that has managed to fool itself that it's a king by dressing itself up in rags.

The storm then abides for a moment as if waiting for a response.

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

"Your notion of kingship comes from human tales? You disappoint me, truly."

The court remains unmoving, but a wind blows from a distance. And a beating of wings can be heard. The King's dragon is flying to its master's call, eyes fixed on the storm.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

And yet... The thunderous voice replies, continuing after less than a second of pause. -he acts just the same. Except he's sending his chained pet instead.

Then the voice goes silent and is overtaken by the winds ripping into the trees and everything else around the king's keep.

Presumably its owner is somewhere within those storm clouds, waiting.

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

The King makes no further reply. Maybe he decided that further trading barbs is beneath him. The court falls silent, but the dragon swoops down towards the storm. It pulls his neck back and thrusts it forward, breathing a jet of intense flame into the middle of the storm.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

While this player isn't sure what sort of effect a dragon breathing fire into a storm cloud would have scientifically it does seem to cause something enormous within the clouds to move.

And a moment later a massive black serpentine head bursts through the cloud, coming right for the dragon as if trying to ram it.

Wherever the dragon attempts to dodge or attack doesn't matter however as the creature is soon proven to be made up of clouds that will harmlessly go right through the dragon if it makes impact. It might impede its vision however if managed to fly straight into the dragon.

Then, in the opposite direction, another serpentine head makes itself known. It's going straight for the dragon in an all too familiar fashion. This one too proves to simply be made out of clouds.

Then a third and a forth one flies at the dragon at the same time from two new directions.
This time though the fourth cloud is going to unleash a powerful bolt of lighting which includes the sound of thunder so loud it will cause temporary deafness.

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

The dragon replies not by a direct attack, but by flying backwards and beating its wings with powerful motions, that stir up a powerful wind. It will try to push the storm-dragon heads back. Regardless of whether it works, however, the bolt of lightning strikes the dragon directly, causing it to give a roar of pain and rage.

As it happens, however, a part of the court's wall crumbles and two jet-black arrows fly towards two of the heads. They're only partially material and capable of causing pain even to a being made of clouds.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

To clarify, the dragon heads look extremely lifelike but its still clear from more than just a glance that they are in fact just clouds. Clouds that seem to move with a will of their own but are clouds nonetheless since they're not sentient either. Which is why they will start to disperse when the dragon flaps its wings.

However, it just so happened to be an actual dragon hidden within the fourth cloud dragon.
One that now emerges as the black arrow pierces its hiding place. It lets out a thunderous roar as it flies straight towards the other dragon to unleash another lighting bolt. This one aimed at its wing.

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

The dragon dips downwards with snake-like speed, cutting through the air before reversing course and diving upwards with its momentum. The darkness inside the court fires two more arrows at the storm-dragon, trying to keep it distracted while the King's dragon attacks from below, intending to gouge it with its claws.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

The king-dragon dives downwards and gets out of the way of the lighting bolt, but that will also take it closer to the storm cloud so the storm-dragon starts to dive after it.

The arrows that are fired at it will be ignored by simple dragon-logic. The only true danger to a dragon was another dragon.

After all, if they were normal arrows they would likely simply reflect off its scales. Though whatever pain these fey arrows might bring still wouldn't dissuade her.

Diving downwards into an inevitable collision the storm-dragon suddenly seems to get cold-feet and tries to steer out of the way, which exposes its neck.
This however is a feint, hoping that the king-dragon will take the bait and go for her throat. If it does so she aims to spin her body a full 360 degrees in the air and assault the dragon with her wings. This might provide her with the opening she needs to go for the other dragons throat.

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

The dragon appears to catch onto the ruse... or perhaps it doesn't, but the King does. And he delivers the right orders to it chained beast. It freezes in mid-air, letting gravity take its course and take it below its bigger opponent. In the meantime, someone climbs out of the court. It's a slim, androgynous figure in antique armor and with a mask over its face, clutching a bow.

The figure pulls back its bow again, aiming at the storm-dragon once more. It looses an arrow longer and stranger than before. It seems to become a streak of inky blackness trailing through the air. If it strikes, it strikes the soul, rather than the body, sending chilling fear rippling through. It shows glimpses of another lightning-being that this prince slew. And as it flies, the dragon breathes fire again. Not to strike its opponent but to ignite this black arrow in mid-air.

[Gullara]

[A Murky Swamp - Where there not be dragons]

Thariza, where she waits, will out of nowhere hear a loud noise a moderate distance away from her. It'll draw her eye to a figure a dozen or so meters in the air, who's now tumbling fast. As she watches, the figure's decent slows and they right themselves shortly before taking a knee in the swamp. They stay in that position for the moment. Thariza might have trouble making out details about this person, other than they're not especially large and certainly humanoid. They're within easy shouting distance if the charr so chose, though.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

Even further below?

While the bait hadn't been taken that did work out somewhat in the storm-dragons favor.

However, she had noticed something. One of the reasons she hadn't dodged those arrows was that they came straight from the cloud cover. By the time she had seen them it had simply been too late. Yet, she was certain that they came from the keep below which meant that whoever was shooting must somehow be able to see through them. Yet the 'king' hadn't showing such an ability earlier, so what had changed...

As she once more turn her body in the direction of the king's dragon and notices its stare she suddenly thinks she has a pretty good idea.

Then another arrow pierces the clouds and this one causes actual pain as it hits her scales without even piercing them. She roars loudly as her whole being feels like its on fire.
But she was a dragon. One arrow, no matter how painful, could not do her in.
Yet, she is going to start to fall as for a moment her wings could no longer bear her.

Yet this is partly a calculated move as her opponent was beneath her.

But he was above the clouds which will soon not be the case as the entire cloud cover raises upwards until it completely encases the falling storm dragon and presumably the king's dragon as well. Making it nearly impossible to see.

[Morty]

[A Murky Swamp]

The dragon's head turns around as it sprays fire in all directions, trying to catch the storm-dragon. Neither its nor the King's eyes can penetrate the cloud. The King's body shoots a few more arrows into the cloud, hoping to catch the enemy, but for now it seems the maneuver has worked.

[Dragon-Less Swamp]

Thariza nocks an arrow onto her bow. Well, it's not like either her or Ambrosia's inert body are hard to spot. Best to make things clear from the outset. This might be the creepy deer-thing's ally.

"Who goes there?" she asks.

[Gullara]

[Dragon-Less Swamp]

The person rises from the ground, in fact hovers above it. They look around, taking in their surroundings. "Simply a humble traveller." A feminine voice calls back. She approaches, hovering over the ground. As she nears, Thariza can make her out more clearly. A women with pale, white features marked with blue lines on her face. Her hair is gathered up into a pair of blue streaked buns. She's dressed in long sleeves and a round skirt with strange, angular shapes in the fabric. Her legs are clearly cybernetic replacements.

Her eyes pass over Thariza and then to Ambrosia's unoccupied body, but her expression remains neutral. She'll either stop a short ways away, or if Thariza demands she stops sooner. In either case, she'll incline her head in a small bow. "Greetings. My apologies if I startled you."

[Morty]

[Dragon-Less Swamp]

Well, she doesn't look like she works for the Chief Scarecrow... Thariza is still visibly on edge, though. The danger Ambrosia is in means she can't really let her guard down. Also, humble travellers don't usually appear out of thin air.

"It's fine. You just appeared here at a bit of an awkward time. I'm keeping watch over my friend here."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Murky Swamp]

The flames of the dragons breath scorch the storm dragon and it can hear it let out a pained cry before it disappears into the clouds.

However, if the arrows catch her they can't determine as there are no further noises from it.

Though as the king's dragon is looking around its scales are going to get wet as it moves through the still heavy storm clouds. It's also noticeably colder in here which shouldn't be much of a surprise even to a living tool.

[Dragon-Less Swamp]

The armored lady, the fancy design of her outfit alone should be enough to confirm her status, remains unmoving. She sits with her legs crossed right underneath a gnarly tree at what must be the largest patch of dry land in this entire swamp. It seems like she must be in some kind of deep meditation. That or she's sleeping in a rather odd position.

Notably, at least to Thariza, is that her tome and the chains that bond it are gone. She seems to have somehow brought it along with her in her true form as she saw dragon-Ambrosia wear it as a strange necklace.