Linden Rue

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Linden Rue

Linden Rue, Life Cleric

Languages	Common, Elvish, Draconic, Sylvan, Primordial, Abyssal, Wiki
Place of Birth	Feywild
Species	Harengon
Gender	Female
Height	3ft (counting my ears)
Weight	30lbs
Eye Color	Sapphire blue

Linden Rue is a Harengon of a rather curious nature. She follows where the will of the divine lights her travels, wherever that may be. Her spiritual wanderings have revealed that the divine celestial world is far more connected than it is separate. Seeing these connections, she finds herself wondering how the gods have influenced different times, peoples, and places and spends her free time often studying different peoples and their practices. She is always prepared to help those in need but as a wanderer she rarely plants herself in one spot too long.

Physical Appearance

Piercing bright sapphire blue eyes peer out from pure snow-white fur which covers her form from ear tips of to toe tips. Inside the pink of her right ear is a dragon mark that looks like an obsidian dragon nestled in her ear, from time to time it has a rainbow chromatic flash ripple across its surface, when you look away and look back you swear it moved but maybe your eyes are just a little tired... She may be small coming in just at around 3ft (counting her ears), but she makes up for it in her fiercely joyful indomitable spirit.

Personality

Linden is an excitable rather happy harengon, who is often one foot in her own world with her musings and pondering. She has survived much in her short time, but her faith has kept her spirit shining bright. She is fascinated and perhaps bit overly excited by new peoples and experiences for her, even ones others may NOT be so excited about. As she always says, "Fear and fascination both start with an 'f' so it can be a bit confusing." She is a bit easily distracted and finds herself drawn in by odd items, strange beings, and shiny items sooome times to her determent (it's a good thing she's tanky). She is loyal to her companions and will do all that she can to avoid ever leaving one of them in trouble. As a staunch lover of life, Linden, will do all she can to stop those inflicting needless cruel suffering upon others.

Powers and Abilities

God: Dysian (Feywild God) Domain: Life & Curiosity

I am the Life (cleric) of the party, here to bestow much anti-damage to my companions. Many see my diminutive stature and assume me to be fearful, but I am actually quite the opposite. When in danger, I spend a lot of my time keeping an eye on those near me and doing my best to ensure they're alright as battle rages. What can I say? I'm a lover not a fighter but, make no mistake I will be the shield to defend those I care for and any innocents in need to the utmost!

On a side note, I have been told I have two lucky rabbit's feet from past companions, seeming to bring some of them an extra edge in their battles...so long as my feet remain attached to my body, that is.

~~~ In my adventures I have become acquainted with a particularly interesting demi-goddess of death named Silent. We share a unique kind of connection, unlike her current followers, that will exist after death and maintain the freedom of Linden's soul. This connection was made possible by Dysian's permission and guidance.

History

They say curiosity killed the cat, it's no worry, I'm a harengon. I'm not from this plane, originally, you see I found myself curious and followed a group of strangers I had been quietly studying through a portal and found myself in this place. I feel like the divine put my paws on this path as I was following the light. Sometimes it's golden and shining and other times it sparkles (this time it was the latter). I must say I do rather like it here, the creatures are all much more direct with their concerns and desires. At times I miss my fae friends and family, but I've always been rather independent anyway.

Hopping right along I've spent my time studying many peoples and places of this land but what I am most excited about are the DRAGONS!! It took me some time, some books, and some spying (without becoming a crispy dragon snack) to get the nuances just right but I was able to learn to fluently speak the Draconic language and it's certainly been enlightening in this current climate. I've been asked why I'm not more afraid of the giant beastly dragons for "a rabbit" (I'll excuse them for not understanding my people are not exactly the same as the tiny creatures they call rabbits) but when EVERYTHING tries or wants to eat you (including most of the peoples I've met) I suppose size becomes irrelevant after some point. I'm not unafraid, I'm just not MORE afraid...

I am also so enamored with life that anytime I have been able to aid those who cross my path and seem to have good intent I have done my best to bestow healing and blessings upon them with the the powers granted by my divine. I have always followed wherever my divine lights my path and it has led me to some very curious locations and experiences but, I have the firm belief that I am always exactly where I am supposed to be at exactly the right time.

Linden's Adventures

Seglock West Gate (7/15/22) Isonhound

The seductive scent of exotic herbs and spices tempts you as Linden Rue places up her delicious feywild meat pie for the cooking competition. If you sample a slice (and how could you resist the buttery, flaky, deliciously browned crust?) the savory spiced sauce is sure to tease and delight your tastebuds with its earthy, spicy, and floral notes. This dish is sure to be an explosion of flavor on your tongue. (Never mind the fact that they seem to have misspelled meet pie on the tag… I’m sure the carnivores won’t mind eating accidentally vegetarian). - Linden Rue at the Gala of Protection

I was enjoying the Gala eating a really particularly delicious slice of carrot cake. It was perfectly spiced, a lovely aroma of nutmeg and cinnamon, with just a hint of sweetness from the icing. Then a beautiful moment of carroty bliss was ruined as loud crashing and screaming from Seglock University crashed our lovely Gala. No time to waste I set off in the direction of the noise, I was closest to the West Gate and so headed that way and found myself with a small group of other adventurers also heading into the chaos. We banded together and waded through the terrified staff and students pouring out of the cafeteria halls. Just as I was thinking that this kind of stampede is no place for a short Harengon a kindly Goliath, Vadath offered me a spot atop his 8ft tall form, and I gladly let him plop me right on his shoulder. The view was AMAZING! I've never been so tall!

We get inside to find these crazy modified goblins with poison bites and a very grey looking orc. My Goliath mount informs us that these are creations of Cheshire a disgraced alchemist that was kicked out of the university. The goblins were closing in on a group of students and a professor with some scrolls of research. So I rode my brave Goliath barbarian into battle and with the the help of Tristram an Eladrin bard of some mighty eloquence holding the orc with his magic, Vadath cleaved it down quickly. I tried to help take down one of the goblins with a Dragonborn bard named Delphi but we were unable to take it down before it slew one of the young students. What was deeply disturbing to me was how the student perished with a single bite wound, and wailed in agony as he crumpled to the ground. No normal goblin could inflict that kind of pain from a simple bite, this was some foul tampering with the natural order of things for sure. With the help of a Sorceress named Omen, paladin named Zen, and a Ranger named Patches we were all able to save rest of the students and the professor, though the professor did receive some injuries during the attack but was able to leave and head out for the infirmary after we gave him some minor healing. We did notice that the goblins seemed awfully interested in the research notes the professor was trying to protect (he had his arms full of scrolls of his notes) which to me seemed a very odd thing for goblins to care for. We questioned the professor and he was very shaken up and didn't seem to know what was going on other than these bests were murdering everyone and creating chaos. He said they seem to be wanting his research but he wasn't going to give it up, he claimed his research was on ointments and such, nothing too impressive. We did not get his name or look at his notes ourselves before we sent him on his way to find safety and healing.

As we continued on fighting our way through the student's quarters in route towards the professor's quarters Omen our Tiefling Sorceress noticed a loud noise coming up behind us in the hall and was the first to see, and warn us of a HUGE golem trudging our way. When I say huge I mean H-U-G-E, it's arms were scraping against the walls of the hall, it barely fit!!! When it reached us it started attacking unprovoked and nearly knocked Patches our ranger flat. Tristham suggested hiding in the rooms and letting it pass by to see if it would kill the orcs (and then following it). Omen used her magic to appear behind it and we could hear her off and on having an argument with someone behind the golem. Vadath, already fully succumbed to his battle rage, after seeing his party member struck by the giant golem could see nothing but red. So in we went my angry Goliath mount and I to defend the stunned ranger and stop the golem. I must say this thing was IMPRESSIVE and it swung these giant chains with huge iron balls at the ends of them ready to smash us to pieces. As it tried to strike Vadath he deftly moved us out of the way, however, this brute literally broke through the floor beneath us! So we began to fall but, the powerful Vadath easily caught himself. I, with all the grace that a Harengon clad in heavy armor can muster, slipped off Vadath entirely and plummeted 10ft into a dark pit...alone. Once my eyes adjusted to the dark I realized I was in a root cellar, normally I would be pretty excited to nose around but, my friends were in danger! So I hopped up out of the hole in one glorious hop back up top standing next to the hole on my own two rabbit feet. I returned just in time to witness the destruction of the golem by Vadath with a little bit of fiery help from Omen our Sorceress.

Once the golem was defeated, and the rest of the hallway cleared of orcs, we all gathered around the professor. I found it very strange that this golem was not harming the professor who Omen had said was following it yet when it saw us it started attacking right away before we did anything at all. I also found it suspicious that the professor was following the golem deeper INTO the fray instead of leaving out the doors we had just cleared and trying to get to safety. He too had research notes, and he also had reagents. When questioned he was being short and defensive, which seeing how Vadath kind of manhandled him because he was trying to sneak off after the golem fell it's hard to tell with absolute certainty if it was because he was guilty or just offended. Since everyone was trying to question him I felt it might be good to ensure he tells us the truth and I cast zone of truth upon him. Even then he was very evasive talking around the answers to the questions he was trying to avoid. He flat out refused to answer if he was going to join Cheshire and when asked about if he was delivering the notes to Cheshire he was evasive saying he was not "a delivery boy." He did say he is NOT working for him (at least not currently we can assume). He did seem very afraid before the golem fell according to Omen so his lack of confidence makes me wonder if Cheshire knew of this professors desire to join him or if he was trying to make this play on his own. We have no idea who made the golem if it was this professor or if it was part of the attack, we did not ask. Vadath decided that the situation was too volatile in the university to keep questioning him there but, did not trust letting him go, he thought of confiscating his research but instead decided to just confiscate the entire professor research and all... an interesting tactic to be sure. Since I had the zone of truth ability and Vadath was planning on further interrogation of the professor I was invited to join him and Dephi back at the Iron Eyrie their guild hall and assist them further. I told them as long as I didn't have to walk I would happily try to help sort things out. After watching that innocent student painfully die to the poisonous bite of the altered goblin, I will do what I can to help put a stop to further cruel abominable creations.

After we got back to the Iron Eyrie and got the professor settled into his "quarters" to await interrogation; Vadath, my strong, brave, barbarian Goliath mount, offered me membership to his guild telling me they seek to aid not only their fellow members but also the people of Isonhound. He also stated they were in need of more help at the field hospital. Seeing that, for now, they seem to be doing good works and are in need of more hands to help those injured in the attack, how could a Life Cleric say no? So I now have begun my newest journey as a member of the Band of the Iron Hawk. You know, I've never been in a guild before, there shall be many notes...

Updates!!! (02/02/23) - So there have been quite a few happenings. For the curious, the whole guild thing worked out pretty good for me. I was made the Clerical Lt. and settled in quite nicely in the Iron Birds...er Hawks. After a series of adventures, with the guild leader Vadath acting as my brave goliath steed, it seems he and I had grown quite close. A festival loomed on the horizon (which anyone who spends ANY time in Isonhound quickly learns means death and terror will be flying in on swift wings, though this time it would seem our dark waiter (the one that waits) would be also making an appearance (on swift shadowy wings... with FIRENDS!). On the eve of the "festival" as they call it here Vadath shocked and surprised myself and he entire guild of Iron Hawks by getting on one knee (which still made him taller than me) and presenting me with a lovely golden diamond ring. He asked me if I would resurrect him now and forever! Of course, I said yes, he makes a good mount, so he was definitely worth keeping around. After the momentous events of the "festival" I was nominated to be one of the Council of 7 uniting all of Isonhound and their guilds along with Vadath, Delphi, Tristram, Feyjin, Silythm, and Violet. When we discussed planning a town hall to invite all of Seglock to rally and join with us for the cause of pushing back the darkness (I named us "The Lightsworn") Feyjin was all a twitter about Vadath and I's engagement and decided she was going to unite us in holy matrimony at the end of the meeting in front of ALL of Seglock. My I must say things escalated quickly. Things were a blur and before I knew it I was saying "heck yea" to Vadath's "I do" and we were husband and wife. It's all pretty surreal, I don't often make permanent relations as i have to be prepared to be called to wander at any moment by my god Dysian but this all sort of just... happened. I will say though, as Vadath is a loyal steed I think he might be willing to adventure onward with me, if not, I shall enjoy the fond memories of each moment we shared together but I must follow my soul's calling no matter what my heart might want to say about it. I do hope not to be called for a very long time, unless the dark waiter apocalypse is successful (which is already seeming likley), in that case I'm good to wander quite literally anywhere else. We'll see how it goes though, I will put forth all my effort to save this place I've come to love and the people who inhabit it.

The Law of Consequences (07-29-22) Isonhound -

Professor Galloway, who I’d had a hand in rescuing in the attack on Seglock University a few weeks ago, called me and one of my fellows, who also aided in saving the professor, a bard named Tristram to a tavern named ‘The Trout’s Tow’ for a (free to the bard and I) drink and a discussion about an important matter (the nature of which we did not know until the professor was sharing it with us from across the table). We were handed a writ about these fire gates that only open every so often, it spoke of a dragon sleeper that may awaken and terrorize the coutnryside if left to her own devices. It was odd and unclear, warning not to wake the sleeping dragon saying to go in and get the hoard, yet it also said the hoard was the reward. So why would someone send us to go get it and not wake the dragon? What would they gain? When we pressed the professor for clarity he told us we would be working for someone else who would be arriving shortly and gave us a bit of information about the order they were from.

It appeared that there was some order of elves that called themselves “The Wold Order” who were descendants of an ancient heroic Sylvan order who were onces defenders of the realm. They claim to be picking up where their ancestors left off and standing up to be protectors of this world. The professor had his doubts, they’ve been around for a while and yet the draconic threats are no less, in fact, they’ve perhaps only gotten worse it seems. If they are trying, they clearly are not doing enough (nothing like the order of old). He was dubious and warned the two of us to keep a wary eye. His warnings were cut off as their representative and the adventuring team he had gathered entered the inn and began approaching.

The Wold order representative introduced himself as ‘Aldean’ and he was your typical elf, proud, pointy ears and all. Very serious and what not. They had sent an adventuring team to these fire gates previously and only a few members made it back alive. When we asked for clarity on the writ he just said we were to go and slay the dragon to help protect the realm and that they were uninterested in the dragon’s hoard so anything in it was ours to do with it what we wished. He kept referring to us as “untested” and such which was odd but I didn’t think much of it. Coming from the feywilds I’m pretty used to high elves and their even higher opinion of themselves and it’s amusing to see that even their more distant relatives haven’t lost that braggadocious character. It seems you can take the elf out of the Feywilds but you can’t take the Feywilds out of the elf. Ha. Anyway…

Our bard managed to charm a few potions out of the stuffy Aldean and after everyone took their pick I ended up with a fire breathing potion. A fire breathing bunny?! I find that hilarious and cannot wait for the right moment to greet a very confused enemy. We were given a hastily drawn map and told it would be about 3 days travel to get to the lair of the dragon. Then without a word Aldean just slipped away while we were distracted in conversation. Another odd thing I took note of once we noticed he had departed.

As we were relaxing the bard realized he needed some funds for some last minute preparations and though a bit of drink in him I suggested he go to the stage we were in the table next to and “do what bards do,” a decision that ended more poorly than I would have expected. You see our new Monk friend Volrac decided that he would ‘help’ the Bard by attempting to gather the crowd. Things seem to be going okay at first, nothing too exciting. Then at some point suddenly I saw Volrac and fire and a few seconds later the ENTIRE stage was on fire and not in the ‘turn of the phrase’ kind of a way. At that point I realized that I was pretty sure Volrac was no longer helping because everyone was panicking and running around. Also there was the screaming, lots of it, and I have rather large sensitive ears so it was vastly unpleasant. I suppose I’ll never understand why beings need to make these situations worse by making as much noise as physically possible for absolutely no productive reason at all. We helped grab buckets and put out the fire and then when it was under control we headed out to secure some last minute things we all needed for the upcoming expedition.

As my lucky feet would have it, most of our travel was largely uneventful. The morning we reached near the lair, as we were gathered around our fire, we all noticed a poorly hidden person behind the giant log that was next to us. I asked if anyone was going to invite the guy by the log to join us at the fire and Hugo and Volrac decided to sneak around each side of the log and try to catch him off guard. I sighed. Then we watched our monk friend be thwarted in his stealth by an even stealthier tree root as he took a bit of a graceless tumble. Hugo our warlock friend, however, managed to get around and train his bow on the fellow who appeared to be a human.

There was a bit of huffing from Hugo of “put your weapons down” and such like. To the new guys credit he put down all of his weapons. I realized no one had asked the most important questions yet. This person who clearly could have attacked us didn’t so far. So I hopped up and down talking to the new guy (I am only 3ft tall and the log was giant) and I asked him directly, “Are you bad, evil, gonna hurt or kill us?” He responded with a “no” and I noticed he had a silvery dragon on his shield that looked like Bahamut. I got tired and stopped hopping and told everyone he said he was good. Then Hugo was upset because he picked his shield back up with kinetic magic. So more huffing (this time back and forth between both of them over the shield being defense and blah, blah).  I chuckled as he was told not to touch his weapons and such and I shouted over the log, “He IS a weapon!!! Just so you know!”

Eventually cooler heads prevailed and he introduced himself as Sro and suggested we all work together. He stated he heard there was a dragon in this area and that’s what drew him here, he also had heard there was an adventuring party heading out this way to deal with the dragon so he was keeping his eye out to find it and possibly help out. I wasn’t fully sold on the story but let it pass. He took us over to the banks of the river next to us and asked us if something looked different about the water. We noticed a pearlescent sheen across the surface. He then taught us how dragons often affect their environments in varying ways depending on the type of dragon they are, even affecting your emotions and soul in some draconic types. This type, however, he was unfamiliar with (which seemed to excite him). He has been familiar with other dragons associated with waters but this pearlescence was very strange and new.

Hugo wanted to set fire to the water and see if it would burn (perhaps like the sheen of oil on water). Markoth our paladin lit a torch and went to throw it in but, Sro used some magic to hold the torch in midair for a moment and then drop it to the ground away from the water. He explained that whatever elements in the environment the dragons are affecting they are also often intimately connected with and may sense any attack or manipulation of that element. Since we were in NO way ready to face the dragon just yet he suggested not attacking the water in any way, let alone with fire. Hugo had the idea to pull some water out in a small bowl but curiously he found that the further he was getting from the water source (and it was not that far at all) the more of the pearl sheen faded from the water’s surface. So he stopped not far from the banks and cast a bonfire spell. The water seemed unaffected other than boiling away. It did not catch on fire nor on further tests did it feel “thick” or “greasy” or like anything at all different when you touched the water itself.

Sro went over some very old established rules for hunting dragons (which he slipped in that he wrote, my ears perked up at that statement, which with his shield, and kinetic magic, was adding up to more than perhaps, just a slip of the tongue - I kept this suspicion to myself though). One main rule was to never fight a dragon in its lair. Due to this rule we all made a plan to go scout the lair, perhaps get someone to lay eyes on the dragon so we knew what type of dragon we were fighting.

When we got there we saw that there were three entrances. One had a set of four tracks going in but only 3 coming out which must have been the previous group that lost a member. I suggested we avoid that way because it was obviously not successful for the previous group that failed to defeat the dragon. As we were setting up Sro suggested some be back at the river and he volunteered to head back there himself if no one else wanted to go or with someone else. Then the paladin Markoth and I both knew we were not the stealthy types in our heavy armor so we elected to wait outside encase help was needed. As Hugo and Volrac were about to head in I asked them if they were able to see in the dark and they both realized they could not so I warned them that they would likely be eaten if they tried scouting with a torch or other forms of light. Tristram bravely volunteered to go scouting on his own as he could cast invisibility on himself and move quietly (as well as see in the dark). We all agreed then decided that we would all but Sro wait by the river (by this point I was pretty sure Sro was a dragon and figured he would be more than enough help to our bard, if needed, on his own).

Tristram made it back to us and informed us that the sound of draconic (or a large beast) breathing fills the lair inside. He stated there was a huge dragon skull where the pearlescent water was flowing out of. He also warned us of an arrow trap (by showing us some arrows he found in his chest). He then described two elven mages that were having a discussion about a dragon, they were looking for a white one, but found a “not quite white” dragon that would apparently suffice. (This made me think - isn’t the Wold order also an elven order? This seems too similar, I’m keeping a wary eye like the professor warned). Our bard found some scattered gold going up a hallway and the sound of breathing of a huge beast echoed most loudly from that direction but fearing he had already more than overstayed his welcome he went no further and returned to give us his report.

Report received we all took our hiding positions and I proceeded to toss a ball bearing into the water to see if we would get a reaction. Nothing. Then Sro used his magic to toss his shield into the water and again, nothing. As he was splashing the shield in and out with his magic, Markoth lit a torch and tossed it in the water. That’s when we heard draconic roaring, amidst the roars I heard the word “STOP!!!” (I do speak draconic by the way, a rabbit of mysteries I am) What struck me about this was the voice was haggard, almost desperate. It was not the voice of a fearsome dragon that was going to charge out and take us. It felt like a voice that was trapped. Our people, the Haregons value our freedom greatly, almost more than anything. I know that sound. I suggested that either the dragon had somehow grown too large (or portly)  to get out of its lair (highly unlikely) OR those mages Tristram had seen were evil and keeping this poor dragon captured! I know in the Feywilds we had all kinds of good dragons, not so friendly ones too but also good ones. My thoughts were interrupted by someone asking if anyone knew how to detect magic, I did so they asked me if I could see if the river was magical. I cast the spell and found that the river was affected by some kind of transmutation magic. I also happened to realize our dear Sro was not what he seemed as he was blanketed in illusion magic but I had suspected as much. I whispered to him playfully, “Someone has a secret.” Then winked. The brief moment of levity faded quickly as I remembered the dragon, the sound of its voice, and I was done playing games trying to decide, my heart hurt for what this beings fate might be if it was good. I marched up to the river bank, scooped up some water and took a drink, to the shock and horror of most of my fellow party members.

I am happy to report that I did not die, it was rather invigorating actually. I will say that the closest I can describe the sensation would be to compare it to eating a goodberry if you’ve ever had the pleasure of devouring one of those beauties! Nourished for the day, a spot of healing, and ready to go! That confirmed it! This MUST be a good dragon. No evil dragon would have nourishing and healing waters! Tristham pointed out that he hadn’t noticed it before but it seemed like the vegetation along the banks of the river was particularly vibrant and lush, perhaps more so than one would usually expect. So this dragon also has healing effects for the land as well! This is my kind of dragon!!! Now I am even more determined to set this poor captive good dragon free! It’s suffering will not be tolerated! Me and my God Dysian (along with my brave adventuring party, and Sro) will not allow evil to triumph!

We head in following Tristram’s direction that leads us to the ‘fire gates’ which are two fiery pillars inside the lair just a bit beyond the middle entrance. The dragon is there hovering just inside the gates. I’ve never seen a dragon like this, serpentine and long in its form with horns that resembled antlers. I spoke first to it in draconic, “I believe you are good and are being held prisoner! We are here to help you! How can we help you? Do you need to be set free?”

The dragon replied in a pained breathy voice, “You are not strong enough to help me.” Little did this dragon know, I too am not what I seem at first glance, he will later find that his words could not be more wrong. Then we heard the sound of footsteps in the distance and he warned, “They are coming,” and he retreated back down the hall and around the corner out of sight.

Two elven mages in robes of the evil draconic order came around the corner and shouted at us. Tristram, our silver tongued bard, to his credit, was able to convince them that we were simply in the wrong place. That we were looking for someone else and not there to attack them. They bought it hook, line, and sinker!!! They said they were waiting on someone else. Tristram apologized for the mix up and then told them he thinks they were out by the water and the mages relaxed and said, “ah, good they’re almost here then!” They then said we were free to go, that we just needed to head on out and all was good. Volrac asked how he could get a set of those robes and said he’d like to join them and they told him, he “doesn’t want these robes” and told him he doesn’t want to be a part of the order, that if he does he must be mentally damaged, they also instructed him to, “ask around Seglock to see how terrible the order is.” Now, they have no way to know we’re from Seglock number one, sure it might be one of the closer settlements but there’s still no way they’d know that, that is where we came from or were going to. This entire exchange was baffling and super suspicious to me. I have fought much evil in my day, being a cleric, and adventurer. Evil doesn’t just let you go when you stumble into their lair. They don’t clear the air because it was just some “confusion” and tell you to just head on home. They are evil, they don’t care who you are, you aren’t one of them, they’ll likely try to murder you or capture you for sacrifice, slavery, or other horrific evil machinations. Also these guys were not very convincing, each time they tried to sound boomy and angry like a real evil cultist they instead sounded like a really bad play actor or a terrible bard who has no idea they’re terrible.

With his ruse a robust success, Tristram was able to hold one of the mages while the other fled, but not before he lit up the rest of us who were standing in a nice tight little group with a hefty fireball. Sro floated? Flew? Over to the held mage and slapped him once which brought him within an inch of his life (coming ever closer to confirming my dragon hypothesis). He then declared that “this one LIVES” and we proceed to pursue the fleeing mage.

There was much fighting and I must say these mages and the traps were rather hard on my party members so they kept me quite busy picking them up off the floor. Markoth in particular decided to hang out in the middle of and become very intimately acquainted with the arrow trap as passing party members littered both themselves and himself with more and more arrows. As we rounded the corner the dragon was in the next room backing towards a different hallway (away from the combat). Sro implored him to stand and fight with us, to end this tyranny and to fight for his own freedom! The dragon stopped backing up but did not reply nor did he do anything else. Our bard asked the dragon if he knew how to speak common, and the dragon replied that he did and so our bard then (saying he had no idea what Sro said as Tristram doesn’t speak draconic) made his own impassioned speech to the dragon urging him to join us to, fight, to aid us! This time the dragon would respond, in action.

Volrac, Hugo, and Kluck (our barbarian) all subdued the fleeing mage and brought him down. They, however, were met by two more wizards and a new battle began. The dragon, convinced at last by the combined efforts of Linden, Sro, and most powerfully Tristram, acted and conjured an ice storm sphere upon the mages. Our heroes fought on bravely, some even stepping boldly in the icy sphere to reach the mages. One of the mages was put down! Then with one powerful icy cone cast by the remaining mage most of our party lay on the floor. Luckily I had enough healing magic to give everyone a little bit of healing all at once and get them all back on their feet again.

Things were starting to get in the neighborhood of a bit dicey, spells on my end were going to start running a bit low. As it was, we still were okay. My most powerful spells were exhausted, I still had a few others left, but if the battles kept raging for much longer it was going to start getting risky as every round my companions were face-planting left and right. Who knew wizards were so dangerous, right? Luckily just in the nick of time I was able to silence the last mage leaving him defenseless as our barbarian Kluck charged in and ended him. Luckily for the group, he was the last of the mages.

Sro pointed out a binding circle in the back of the cavern where the mages were coming from. The dragon stated that he was not powerful enough to dispel it or he would have been gone from this place long ago. He told us he was promised that if he helped them test some adventurers they would let him go but they never did, I assume because they always had more adventurers they wanted to test.

One of our stronger members fetched the unconscious mage Sro saved near the gates, tied him up so he could not use his hands to cast magic, and I gave him some of the water, restoring him (just barely) to consciousness. When he awoke and took stock of all of us standing above him and that he was at the binding circle he gave a weak, “Congratulations,  you passed the test!” He then proceeded to argue with Sro how they were training adventurers (Sro maintaining that HE was training them! They just provided lies and death!). When they were done huffing at one another we told him to undo the binding. He said he was not powerful enough. He explained that while he is powerful, a group of mages a lot more powerful than he got together to cast that binding so it would take some similar strength of power to dispel it.

He asked that we give him the bodies of the other mages. I replied “So you can just revive them and do all of this again to more people?” The party and Sro all looked at him and said a resounding NO on returning the bodies.

We then moved on and were talking with the dragon about the skull we passed on our way in that the water flows through and he said they were his daughter’s bones and that adventurers have been taking pieces of her bones and even the teeth from the skull itself. He seemed very sad and stated that if they were able to be gathered back up again and cast into a river she would live again!

I looked at the party and told them that I know it might be near impossible but I would like to try to set the dragon free. No one knows how important freedom is to my people, my God, and my way of life. I cannot leave here without at least trying. I asked if they would let me rest since it was an exhausting battle and they did but not before we of course collected the hoard and divided it out amongst the party. It was ours if we succeeded and the mage told us we passed (a test we didn’t know we were taking).

I awoke the next morning and spent a few moments in prayer asking for guidance from Dysian to help empower me to set free this beautiful captive spirit. The bard played beautiful inspiring music while I meditated. When I was just about ready the dragon said he could offer the blessing of the sea but he didn’t think it would be particularly helpful. I said I would take every help I could get. Turns out the blessing of the sea allows you to breathe underwater so, instead of eating breakfast I just stuck my head into the underground river running all through the cave and breathed in my breakfast. Fully nourished, prepped, and invigorated, I prepared to set a dragon free where many others have failed.

I walked up to the summoning circle fully aware of the party and two expectant dragons waiting in anticipation at my back. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Then I began channeling the divine energy through my body with the intent to dispel this binding circle. I felt the energy flowing then it ebbed what felt a bit early but remembering that beautiful uplifting bardic song this morning my will and mind were refocused and certain of success and the energy began surging once again. Then just before it felt like it should be finished the energy dipped once more and I connected back to my God Dysian, to his guidance and I allowed all the energy that he could send to flow through me and into the circle. Then all at once everything stopped as if a candle was just snuffed out in an instant.

I opened my eyes and the circle was inactive, it was no longer glowing. I grinned ear to ear. Everyone doubts the rabbit. I turned around to stunned faces, no one more than the dragon himself. I think it was the first time he actually really saw me. He asked if that was it, if it was over and I shrugged and told him that there was only one way to tell. We gathered ourselves and our things and headed out of the lair.

It should be noted that while we were distracted discussing the bones of the dragon’s daughter there was one person missing, Volrac. It should also be noted that it appears the mage just so happened to have ceased living at some point between the bone discussion and the sorting of the loot. Weird, huh? Though that left Sro without “the one to tell the tale,” I told him, not to worry, I would be sending a strongly worded sending “letter” because I am LIVID.  

As we reached the fire gates, the furthest out the dragon has been able to go since they bound him here he paused and let everyone else pass through. We turned to face him. My heart was pounding. I knew the spell was dispelled but I was secretly afraid they had taken some other hidden arcane measures to keep him locked in or worse to hurt him or kill him if he tried to leave without them setting him free and disabling all the known elements. I didn’t let my concern show and just beamed a bright positive smile at him.

It was one of my greatest honors in this life so far to see this magnificent creature step forth and pass beyond the fire gates watching him go from defeated, to afraid to be too hopeful, to watching the color returning to him as he seemed to rise taller and stronger and rushed out of the cavern. He did say thank you but I didn’t release him for that (I just want anyone who may read my writings to know that he was also a polite dragon).

We all stepped outside and Sro thanked us also for doing a great deed. As a sign of appreciation he revealed his stunning and HUGE Great Silver Wyrm handsome self (gotta say I did a solid bunny pat on the back for putting the clues together for that one) and offered to fly us back home to Seglock. That flight was AMAZING!!! Talk about the experience of a lifetime!!!! Though after seeing his form I must say the talk of the mages about the fact that they found a dragon that was not white but sort of white makes me concerned for Sro. I wonder if they meant him. I would think they would know a silver dragon or at least silver as a color but then again they tried to pull off a terrible ruse. Hmm… I might have to send Sro a message as well.

As it would turn out, yes, Mentztonalcoatl I WAS strong enough. ~ Linden Rue

Note: I also want to note that the dragon we freed was named: Mentztonalcoatl but that’s a mouthful to write so I instead called him “the dragon” throughout for ease of my paws.

A Bloody Teatime (09-14-22) Isonhound -

I found myself invited to a teatime at the most lovely “secret” headquarters of the ‘Power to the People’ (PotP). You see, it’s an underground cavey sort of place which is much reminiscent of the burrows I’ve not seen since I was a small Harengon, er well young I suppose I’m still quite small to most of you reading this. I must say I was so looking forward to a good tea, it’s been quite some time since I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a proper tea, since I’ve left the Feywilds as a matter of fact now that I think of it.

A tall impressive treant named Oakey stood ahead of us as we arrived and briefly interrogated us as to our reason for arrival and after our guide informed him of our invitation he let us pass and returned to his leafy watch. A lovely waterfall flowed behind our wooden fellow and as our guide approached, the water was swept aside to reveal the entrance to our teatime extravaganza! It was a fantastic trick! What an entrance! I do appreciate keeping my fur dry.

As we entered what I was sure was going to be an enchanting teatime, I was hoping for crumpets (divine little pastries), or perhaps some carrot cake petit fours? As I dreamed of finger sandwiches (not made of fingers, unless you’ve invited goblins or ogres of course), a human gentleman introduced himself with a wide grin by the name of Archie. He stated that he was acting leader, as Brenna, the Leader of the PotP was out on business along with most of the other members. He asked us to follow him so we could gather for tea. (I shall note that there was a rather dour wizard high elf gentleman among us also named Archie, I shall refer to this elf as Archie 2 if referring by name).

Our party of seven (now eight with Archie) found ourselves squeezing around a table meant comfortably for five. Our tea, as it were, was served in mismatched china, some of which were chipped. It was palatable, even decent. As for food, well, Archie proudly handed out some half stale biscuits he had gotten the day before (it is a bit of a trip to get fresh baked goods and I don’t imagine he’s much for baking but he spent all the copper in his pocket to get the best he could afford). I will say as I sat there, sipping tea from a mismatched chipped cup (occasionally dunking my half day old biscuit), in the cool darkness of the burrow-cave (okay it was just a cave) I was indeed having a FANTASTIC time!!!!

Archie regaled us with tales of a moon dragon (which I won’t bore you with here, of course) but I did find them mightily fascinating! As we were digging into the many possibilities of dragon composition, bratwurst being a personal favorite. We heard an ominous horn sound in the (not far enough away) distance. As a few brave souls rushed past us swords at the ready we heard some mighty fierce treant roars. Oakey was under attack!!!

Oakey was now bellowing out a mix of fierce roars tinged with painful cries which were coming from above the waterfall. Archie was beside himself and ran to the mouth of the cave urging us to go with him to save his friend. In all honesty Tristram was already at the top of the waterfall attempting to scout and I was readying to use my springy rabbit legs to hop up to join him as Archie and the rest of the party arrived.

With one hop I made the top, the others even the reluctant giff (I suppose I can’t blame him, hippos are not built much for climbing) made good time following up behind. What was revealed was a troubling scene. Our treant fellow was surrounded by three vicious Drakkoths who were savagely attacking him. Oakey seemed like he was holding his own but as we approached the attackers really seemed to tear into him and it was clear we needed to act fast or the treant would soon fall.

I was the most armored of all in our teatime party so I engaged first. All fought fiercely, save our reluctant giff rogue friend who fought rather timidly from a rather safe very far, far distance. As we started to make some headway and me, Tristram, and the Owlin moved in closer to engage another ominous horn sounded this time behind us down beyond the waterfall.

A few moments later two more drakkoths appeared along with one large bone golem dragon all too close for comfort. Our owlin bravely faced down the dragon golem taking a noxious breath before my spirit guardians and I were able to grab it’s full attention. All 3 ft of me was the most able bodied defensively armored personage there and while I typically devote my efforts to supporting others and doing healing work I will stand and be a defensive shield when needed.

I must say I do not much prefer the life of a shield. They get battered and many dents. I held my own a bit until this insane golem dragon creature was able to pull out some of its bones and pin me to the ground. I couldn’t defend myself while pinned and the beast gave me a good rending, it nearly took me out in one one go. Tristram put himself in harm’s way to use some of his special abilities to teleport me out of the dragon’s bony trap. Luckily my divine grants me some amazing healing powers so I was able to restore myself to fighting shape instantly once I got my bearings after the teleport.

Archie, brave Archie, seeing me arrive after the teleport, came and stood by my side, even putting himself between me and the one spell slinging drakkoth. He held his sword firm and said he would do whatever was required to help! This would be a fateful choice but not due to the drakkoth. Oakey had come to stand next to Archie hurling rocks towards the beast of a dragon golem.

Apparently, the dragon golem had become quite enamored with me (it had nothing to do with the large treant tossing boulders I assure you) because it turned and quite easily loped over to me like a giant vicious boney puppy dog returning happily to eat its master. It was at this point, however, that it would become apparent that the dragon golem had a few more boney tricks up his sleeve. All at once he sent out overgrown bony protrusions in three directions, one that nearly dropped me back to my knees as it pierced into me, one nearly flatlining the already badly beaten but determined Oakey, and tragically one expertly piercing the very big heart of courageous Archie felling him instantly.

There was no time to mourn and as Oakey and I steadied ourselves trying to ready ourselves to attack once more. Tristram flew between Oakey and the magical drakkoth (the last one of them standing) and used his magic to send it fleeing away in terror. Still we had one large golem problem standing right in front of us.

Archie 2 stepped up and though cold and dour he may be, he was able to weave a spell sending an icy knife into the golem that exploded and was the last bit of damage needed to finally cause the dragon golem to collapse into a bone pile.

Some of our party chased after the fleeing drakkoth, completionists I suppose. My only concern was our fallen friend. Archie had not only bravely run forth into danger to defend his friend Oakey but he had stood next to me in battle, more than that he purposely put himself between me and danger and we had only met really a few minutes before the battle. He was a good man, and if this guild were to do real good it would need people like him. Without hesitation I pulled out a diamond I had been saving encase one of my friends died while we were out aiding others on a quest. I performed the necessary rites and called Archie’s kind spirit back to his body.

I realized shortly after I should have done some quick healing work on myself prior to the revivify spell because while I appreciated Archie’s enthusiasm for being back with the living once more, I also found it rather painful. It was all worth it in the end. Our owiln friend gave Oakey a quick patch up while I was tending to Archie so all of us were starting to get back on our feet.

We met the rest of the party at the bottom of the falls where the fleeing drakkoth mage was enjoying a nice nap thanks to the quick thinking of our gnome sorcerer. As Oakey had taken so much pain from the three drakkoths that had attacked him we all found it fitting he should have the liberty of dispatching this last foe. He picked it up by its tail and gave its head a quick smack on a rock before tossing its unconscious form into the water. Certainly efficient.

We headed back into the cave to find a very somber scene, the quartermaster Frank along with the other man who had stayed back with him were both slain and everything was tossed. I immediately ran to his side as I had another diamond but, when I was checking him over as I was preparing the ritual I realized that his spirit was too far for my revivify ritual to reach him. Sadly there was nothing I could do for him, or the other man who had perished alongside him defending the cave.

It looked like the drakkoths had been looking for something the way things were tossed. Their tracks led all over the cave and we could see that the one place they could not seem to get into was the quarters of Brenna the leader. Though I must say it was not for a lack of trying, the stalwart wooden door took a good chipping and presented many claw marks. I did wonder what might be in that office, and what they might be after. I suppose the “secret” part of the ‘secret hideout’ as the PotP members kept calling it is rather out of the bag with this recent attack.

One thing I can say for sure is that this attack was planned, I am certain we were meant to be baited up top to get us out of the way. Had they wanted to get rid of Oakey easily they would have used the full force all at once as he never could have taken the three Drakkoths, the dragon golem, and the additional two drakkoths (especially with one that could steal your lifeforce with magic!). They would have made quick work of him. It seems odd though, it’s as if they knew most of the PotP would be out. They obviously had a secondary force (we have no idea how many) that went into the cave and overtook at least the two men in there. They could have just come in with all of their forces and likely taken us down. Someone was working with strategy, planning, and intelligence. This was more than just a few thugs or a revenge strike.

Before we left I asked Archie to let Brenna know that I would be more than willing to come back and use my magic to help their deceased friends speak once more if they had any questions for them. I asked him to let her know that I had tried to bring Frank back and would have also tried for the other gentleman but they had both been gone too long for the magic to work. I told him that I would be willing to help in any way I could, all they needed to do is ask.

Archie tried to give me some gold as compensation for helping defend but I pressed it back into his hand and asked him to see that it did some good. None of my efforts were done for any gain. I saw people in trouble, good people, and I did what I always would have done. I helped them. I can only hope that the goodness and light that I could see in Archie’s spirit exists truly in the heart and the intention of the PotP.